CONFIDENTIAL
2.1. Lovan.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HER BRITANNIC MAJOTY'S GOVERNADET
PMV (HK) (74) 1
14 December 1973
COPY NO
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO HONG KONG 12th-14th JANUARY, 1974
STEERING BRIEF
Brief by Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1. This is a very short, two-day visit to a Colony whose
economy is sound and has been expanding fast, and whose
relations with China are on an even keel. A massive public
housing and social programme is keeping pace with economic
development. There are few political pressures inside the
Colony.
•
2. But the visit takes place at a time of some difficulty.
Public opinion in Hong Kong will be anxious about the Prime
Minister's visit to China, and particularly about the question
of a Chinese Representative. There is an undercurrent of anti-
British feeling, particularly on bilateral issues where Hong
Kong believe that the UK has not given enou, h weight to their
interests. There is a tendency to write the UK off as a
declining power, and little inclination to conclude from Hong Kong's dependent status that they owe anything to Britain,
to place contracts on anything other than a purely commercial
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