Mr. Wilford
Reference..
12
Hong Kong/United Kingdom Wide Sheeting and Sheets Agreement, 1968
Before he left the Office, Mr. Carter prepared the attached submission on this problem which goes back to September 1968. I have discussed the details with
Mr. Sellers and I am sure that we must somehow get the matter settled and settled quickly.
2.
As you will see Mr. Carter recommended that we
should try to seek the assistance of the Board of Trade
in returning to the charge with the Ministry of Technology. Unfortunately Mr. Goldsmith is no longer concerned with this kind of question (he moved to a new job shortly after I joined Hong Kong Department). My own view is that we should try again with Mr. Carey. Up to last week, i.e. until we received the last telegram from the Governor urging us to agree that Hong Kong should reopen negotiations with the Americans
on non-cotton textiles, Mr. Carey was adopting a most sympathetic approach to Hong Kong's problems.
I am afraid, however, that the Governor's telegram No. 438 has damaged Hong Kong's image considerably.
3.
I think it would be bad tactics to try to argue with Mr. Carey about the facts of the sorry wrangle of
two years ago, however much we may sympathise with Hong
Kong for the treatment they received from Mr. Stewart. I have, therefore, drafted in broad terms only (giving
Mr. Carey perhaps more credit than he deserves for the
part he played in bringing about the change at any rate up to a few weeks ago in our attitude towards Hong Kong). I cannot guarantee that this will do the trick
but I think it is worth trying.
9 June, 1970
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(E. 0. Laird)
Hong Kong Department