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2-
''SHOULD PROBLEMS OF OVERSEAS. TRADE RELATIONS ARISE IN
COMMODITIES OTHER THAN TEXTILES, THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WILL
BE FREE TO FOLLOW THE SAME GENERAL POLICIES, MUTATIS MUTANDIS, AS
ARE PROPOSED FOR TEXTILES IN THIS DESPATCH.''
3 ON THE TEXT ITSELF-
(1) THE FIRST SENTENCE OF PARA. 3 IS A LITTLE AMBIGUOUS.
IT IS
NOT CLEAR WHETHER RELATIONS REFERS SOLELY TO U.K./HONG KONG TRADE OR TO THE CONDUCT OF HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS
AS A WHOLE. IF THE FORMER, AS SEEMS THE MORE IMMEDIATELY
X
APPARENT MEANING, THE STATEMENT IS NOT WHOLLY CORRECT.
RESTRICTIONS ON HONG KONG'S EXPORT TRADE TO BRITAIN HAVE NOT BEEN
BASED ON THE L T A SEMICOLON ALTHOUGH IT IS TRUE, OF COURSE, THAT
HONG KONG'S RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN BASED ON IT.
(2) THE SECOND LAST SENTENCE OF PARA. 3 DOES NOT QUITE REPRESENT
THE SITUATION. DIRECT CONFRONTATION HAS CERTAINLY BEEN AVOIDED
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN CONFLICTING VIEWS HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED.
I WOULD SUGGEST INSTEAD IN PRACTICE DIRECT CONFLICT IN THE
EXPRESSION OF VIEWS IS AVOIDED'
(3) I AM NOT SURE THAT THE FIRST TWO SENTENCES IN PARA. 4
CORRECTLY STATE THE CONSTITUTIONNAL POSITION. IT SEEMS TO ME
THAT THERE MAY POSSIBLY BE SOME CONFUSION BETWEEN H M G'S
CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO GIVE DIRECTIONS ON EVERY ASPECT OF
HONG KONG AFFAIRS, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SEMICOLON AND THE QUESTION,
IN TERMS OF CONVENTIONAL INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES, OF THE LIMITS
WITHIN WHICH A METROPOLITAN POWER CAN GRANT AUTONOMY IN EXTERNAL
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS TO DEPENDENCY. THERE IS CLEARLY A VERY
WIDE FIELD WHERE A DEPENDENCY MAY PROPERLY BE GRANTED AUTHORITY
TO CONDUCT, AND MAY WITHOUT CHALLENGE CONDUCT, ITS INTERNATIONAL/TRADE
CONFIDENTIAL