2600224
c.s. 84
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XCR(69)221
Foreign and Commonwealth Office will increasingly in future be handled by Diplomatic Service Officers in between periodic postings to overseas stations, instead of being dealt with by permanently home-based officers with a long acquaintanceship with Hong Kong affairs, as in the past. The presence in London, therefore, of a Hong Kong Government officer of status and experience, readily available for consultation and with full knowledge of this Government's views and policies, should be of assistance to the FCO. It is understood that official opinion in the FCO agrees with this view.
Findings and Recommendations
(a)
14
Multi-purpose Office
The present organisation of this Government's agencies in London is unsatisfactory because unified direction both in London and from Hong Kong is lacking. Moreover, it is clear that this Government's activities in London will grow in the near future since, if the recommendations for the whole re-organisation and for the expanded role of the Liaison Office are accepted,
(i) the London Office will provide a supplementary
direct and personal adjunct to the official links between Whitehall and the Hong Kong Government;
(ii) there will be an expansion in the work of the
Liaison Office, which will also bring about
(iii)
an increase in the activities of the Information Section of the London Office;
the Students' Office will assume responsibilities for Government trainees.
Recommendation 1: It is therefore recommended that a multi- purpose office, which would incorporate the existing agencies, should be established in London as soon as possible.
(b) Functions of new London Office
15
should be
The functions of the new general-purpose London Office
(a) to provide a supplementary, direct and personal
point of contact and source of informed advice between London and Hong Kong;
(b) to control and co-ordinate the various activities which are directly undertaken by the Hong Kong Government in Britain.
The immediate nature and extent of the second of these functions will comprise:
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