NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT
To:-
4.M.2
SECRET
W L St Clair Esq
TREASURY
Type 1 +
FROM
A C Stuart
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
Copy to:
D Stone Esq
BANK OF ENGLAND
STERLING AGREEMENT: HONG KONG
1.
You may like to know that the Hong Kong
Financial Secretary has reported to Executive
Council on 14 August on the results of his visit
to London. The Council predictably expressed
concern about the situation, and particularly that
they were still not in a position to engage in
meaningful discussions of/what would follow when
the sterling guarantee arrangements expired next
month. They deplored what they called an apparent
breach by HMG of an undertaking to conduct a review
in March this year.
Haddon-Gave confirmed that
Executive Council would be kept in touch with
developments and that any proposed guarantee
arrangement would be referred to the Council for
advice.
2. The meetings of Hong Kong's Executive Council
are confidential and the news has not been released
to the press. However, Hong Kong newspapers have
published accounts of what they describe as Haddon-
Cave's failure to get any satisfaction from his
visit here.
3. There is nothing new in all this and nothing
that calls for a response from us. But I thought
you should know of this concerned reaction from
/Executive