A further example is the Hong Kong representative in the British Embassy in Washington. As part of the Bri- tish Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hong Kong does have its own man in Washington. Until recently this was Mr. John Barrow, and is now Mr. Alex Herman, who also has previous experience of the post.
Mr. Herman is well known to members of the Chamber's General Committee and staff, and both he and Mr. Barrow recently held discussions with members of the Chamber's North America Area Committee. Last year, Mr. Barrow also addressed members of the North America Area Section at a luncheon meeting. In short, Hong Kong has considerable opportunity to make its point of view known to the Washington representa- tive.
Of course, Hong Kong's case must often rest in the hands of UK— rather than local-spokesmen. And this is by no means a wholly unfor- tunate system. Probably the most significant recent example of the value of this system occurred during the representations made to the Japanese Government concerning the discrimination against HK in the Japanese Generalised Preference Scheme.
Although Japan listened to local protest, nothing much appeared to happen. Hong Kong's case was in the meantime taken up by Sir Geoffrey Howe, the British Minister for Trade and Consumer Affairs and, perhaps even more to the point, by Mr. Heath himself. Since then Japan has eased
the discriminatory list. To lay the credit for this entirely with
with Sir Geoffrey and Mr. Heath is perhaps too simple not to say fulsome when much behind-the-scenes work was also being carried out by both the HK and British Governments, but there can be no doubt the British politicians' expressed concern added weight to Hong Kong's case. It is a useful example of the value of having a 'big brother', a privilege that many of the world's smaller nations would appreciate.
Another means by which HK makes its views known is the Hong Kong Trade Advisory Group within the Bri- tish Department of Trade & Industry. This is there solely and specifically to
and consider Anglo-HK trade advise Ministers and thus Parliament.
The back-benchers
to
The role of Parliament itself is also worth keeping in mind, particularly the role of the ordinary back-bench Member. The Anglo Hong Kong Parliamentary Group is an all-party group of MPs who take a special in- terest in Hong Kong affairs. These MPs are always available to Hong Kong groups, both official and un- official.
The value of the Group lies largely in its ability to prod the UK Govern- ment into action, and MPs are at present using exactly this procedure to express their concern about Mr. Peter Godber and related matters. Although not hitting the headlines in so drama- tic a manner, back-benchers in the recent past have also raised in Parlia-
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