CONFIDENTIAL
"I firmly believe that our Government in Hong Kong must be
given the full authority to make decisions on internal
matters so that we can adopt measures which, in our opinion,
are in the overall interests of our community
(He was speaking with reference to the use of powers to permit
night work of women, the exercise of which he alleged was subject
"to certain restrictions imposed by Whitehall";
fact exercised after consultation with us).
the powers are in
These are, of course,
highly exaggerated and emotive utterances but they are indicative
of a strong attitude that Hong Kong knows best what is good for it
and particularly for its rather unique economy.
6. Three factors have possibly heightened this attitude in the
last two years.
(a) Clash of Interests in the field of International Textile
Policy
The first is the clear emergence of a clash of interests in
the field of international textile policy between Hong Kong as
a major exportor of textiles and the UK as a major importeraud
domestic producer: this has led Hong Kong to press for the
maximum possible freedom in the conduct of the Colony's
commercial relations and for the demarcation of their sphere of
responsibility in a written understanling (the drafting of which
is under discussion). To the extent that Hong Kong "trades up"
produces goods of higher quality and value) so the Colony
will more and more become a competitor of the United Kingdom
both in the UK domestic market and also in overseas markets,
(i.e.
particularly in textiles.
CONFIDENTIAL
/ (b).