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7. If Hong Kong is to be represented at the Conference, the normal practice would be for the representative to be part of the UK delegation, but, to be identified in the official delegation lists as coming from Hong Kong. It would of course be possible to omit any mention of his provenance (not all delegations describe the functions of individuals) but it would not be in accordance with our usual practice and the change would almost certainly be noticed. For our part, we do not see that this need cause any difficulty.
8. In reaching a decision on the points mentioned in paragraphs 6 and 7 above, a good deal depends on whether China will actually be present at this year's Conference. We do not yet know the answer to this. We may get some indication from the meeting of the ILO Governing Body which takes place from 12 February to
2 March. We should therefore be very grateful to have your views by about the end of this month.
9. In all this I have left out of account the many regional and specialist subsidiaries of ILO (and of other UN agencies for that matter). These are of course somewhat less political in nature but I imagine that they are of more practical value to Hong Kong. For these I suggest that the aim should be business as usual, subject to our briefing the UK delegates about the pitfalls. But we should welcome your comments.
Enols.
W N Wenban-Smith
United Nations Department
co: Miss Green,
Department of Employment
Mr Foggon (OLA)
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E 119)
Miss Swan (Gibraltar & General Dept. - K 273A)_7
HKIOD
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