but elsewhere it must rely on the services which the
staffs of our posts can provide.
Hong Kong's trading interests are now extensive,
and by its trade it must live. It is no longer just
an entrepot port of regional commercial importance,
as it was immediately before and after the war, but an
industrial community whose light manufactures are now
exported on an almost world-wide basis. The size,
pattern and complexity of its trade increase every
year, and the responsible officials of the Hong Kong
Government service need for the formulation of the
Colony's commercial policies and the conduct of its
commercial relations reliable information on a wide
range of political and economic developments in the
countries with which it trades.
time, they are confronted with an urgent need to form
a view on some action or policy of a foreign govern-
ment;
this can only be done with any assurance
against the background of a sound general knowledge of
affairs in the country concerned.
Also, from time to
Unfortunately the "Financial Times" does not
provide all the services ite advertisements claim!
Arthur Maddocks, the Political Adviser to the Hong
Kong Government (the post, as you may know, is filled
from the Diplomatic Service on secondment) has
therefore asked if certain posts could help to supply
the necessary information and we for our part greatly
hope that you will feel able to do so.
/The sort of
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22
The sort of information Hong Kong is
looking for cannot be exhaustively defined.
General surveys of aspects of the political
and economic scene, which would normally be
the subject of a despatch, are what Maddocks
has chiefly in mind. Hong Kong do get many
of the despatches in print, but only after a
considerable lapse of time; it would be much
more helpful if a copy could be supplied direct
by the originating post at time of issue
Despatches normally describe and assess
developments some time after they have occurred;
the more important developments are often
reported on nearer their occurrence by
informal letter and it would therefore be very
much appreciated if, in appropriate cases,
these also could be copied direct to Hong Kong.
We do not, of course, overlook the fact that
many posts are already sending copies of
reports of obvious direct interest to Hong Kong
and are even corresponding with the Colony on
such matters.
Clearly what is sent must be left to your
We do not envisage that there
discretion.
will be any need to send material rating a
higher classification than "Confidential".
In any case we would ask you to send all such
material to :
Political Adviser,
Colonial Secretariat,
Hong Kong
and he will act as a filter before it is
disseminated for use in the Department of
Yake in XX
Commerce and Industry.
on sheet attached?
/ We hope
age 9
age 9
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We hope that you will not find this
additional chore too burdensome or your staff,
since we do not envisage that it will amount
to much more than mailing an extra copy of
suitable items of correspondence.
In the
rare event that information of "Secret" classi-
fication might concern Hong Kong's general
interests, we would be grateful if you would
consider specially to what extent and in what
form it might be passed on to the Political
Adviser, indicating to him any express caveats
about its use or dissemination,
1..
You may wonder whether this could be the
thin end of the wedge so far as dependent
territories are concerned and whether one such
request as this will be followed by others.
I think I can say with every certainty that
Hong Kong is sui generis among our remaining
dependent territories and that we see none of
the others ever approaching, much less matching,
its position of twenty fourth or twenty fifth
in the league table of the world's leading
trading countries.
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