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Mr Radley (United Nations Department)
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HONG KONG AND THE UN
1 Mr Pettitt in the UN Department of the ODA sent me
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a copy of his letter of 24 February to you, commenting on the draft letter to Mr Johnson in Vienna.
I subsequently spoke on the telephone.
You and
2. On the whole, I am inclined to agree with Mr Pettitt's view. In particular I find difficulty in accepting the last part of paragraph 5 of the draft, which I am sure would cause resentment in Hong Kong. It is of course part of our function to try to remove any areas of disagreement between ourselves and the Hong Kong authorities. You explained that if we backed candidates from the Dependent Territories for jobs in the United Nations, for example in UNIDO, then we should be that much the less well placed to get posts for UK candidates in places where we wanted them, such as the Security Council. This argument however presupposes that the rights of our Dependent Territories must automatically take second place to our own whenever there is any conflict. I do not think we can accept this axiomatic. Could we perhaps rephrase the last part of paragraph 5 to read something like:-
"Whether or not such candidates could expect official backing would depend on all the circumstances at the time."
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1 March 1973
Copies to:
Mr Pettitt (UND, ODA) Mr Clark (FED, FCO)
1.4. hovor.
R B Crowson
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department