BRITISH TRADE COMMISSION
STAFF-IN CONFIDENCE
MEMORANDUM
15 December, 1966
The British Information Effort in Hong Kong
८
The
At present there is no specifically British Information effort aimed at Hong Kong, because of its colonial status. efficient Hong Kong Government Information Services are paid for and run by the colonial government. Their tone is therefore set by, and their effort is on behalf of, their colonial employers. It is true that they act as unpaid agents of the C.O.I., but I imagine they would agree that this is a duty that has been wished on them, and is a very long way down their pricrities. The consequence is that, with the best will in the world, they appear to do little active work on behalf of purely British objectives, and devote their time to pursuing Hong Kong objectives. In practice this means that they really only act as a post office for LPS output and distribute it at a low level and very much as a routine duty and without much active effort or policy.
2. To my mind there is a case to be argued for a full scale British Information effort here. Hong Kong remains a colony only by a political accident. Economically it is far ahead of most underdeveloped but independent countries, and the pattern of its manufactures and its vital need to export often bring the colony into commercial collision or rivalry with the United Kingdom. With politics being more or less a forbidden subject, the emotions of the population are wrapped up in economic and business matters. Anything in the Anglo/Hong Kong relationship that touches Hong Kong's financial interests be it quota disputes, high interest rates or pressures for more defence contributions, immediately becomes a matter of public discussion and the temperature rises. With the only Information service being the creature of the colonial government, British case too often goes by default.
the
I
3. To remedy this situation however would require a fully fledged Information section to be set up reading room, reference library, film library, etc. in charge of a home based Information officer, assisted by some local staff. feel that to propose this sort of thing at present would be sighing for the moon, and in any case it is outside my orbit as Trade Commissioner.
4. What does concern me now in this very important market is that with the absence of any purely British Information effort, there is no proper vehicle for a British commercial information effort. It is true that a little of the LPS Industrial and Trade copy is being placed in two of the English language newspapers, thanks to the low level and haphazarā distribution by the Government Information Services. But this is all, and even then items are obviously selected more for
/..