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Dragste Vyfee кре
Sir D Watson Watson
This che
chuft puts
puts our priction
priction very clearly.
ماشا
Private Secretary
Бий
-20/11
20
HONG KONG: SHIPPING
1. In Mr Grattan's minute of 16 November, he explained that
his reason for asking for a commentary on Mr Heseltine's undated
minute to the Prime Minister, was that the Prime Minister's
Office had some doubts about the DTI paper's arguments and
conclusions.
2. The paper's main defect is that it takes no account of our
overall interests in Hong Kong. But some of the technical
arguments in the paper are also shaky. Since it was submitted
I have discussed the question with the DTI department concerned.
They concede, and our Legal Advisers confirm, that the transfer
of the shipping register to Hong Kong would not of itself confer
significant new powers on the Hong Kong Government.
The only
viable arguments against transfer are therefore that the Hong
Kong Government would let standards slip by relaxing the
quality of their inspection system; or that expectations of such
a slippage would create difficulties here or in Hong Kong.
3. I believe that we can discount the former and that the
Singapore precedent is not valid (if indeed it is true that
standards have slipped in Singapore). There may be more force
in the second argument. The Overseas Labour Adviser is impressed
both by the strength of Union fears in this country about the
practices of employers in Hong Kong, and by the eagerness of the
/latter
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