CONFIDENTIAL
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Hong Kong/UK Relations
6.
Despite the success of The Queen's visit in May,
relations between Hong Kong and the United Kingdom have recently been uneasy.
In some respects the Colony is like a semi-autonomous city state, but the Chinese Government would not tolerate any move towards greater independence. This complicates the relationship with the UK, especially as there is a small but vociferous minority in Hong Kong, supported by a number of Labour MPs, who would like to
see some progress towards elective self-government. There are a number of other current issues, none of them vital, but cumulatively important. One of the most politically sensitive for the UK is the death penalty. No death sentence has been carried out in Hong Kong since 1966, but public opinion there still strongly favours hanging in extreme cases.
7.
Amongst other current problems are labour and trade union affairs and the forthcoming renegotiation of our Defence Agreement with the Colony. With regard to the former, at a recent meeting between the Secretary of State,and members of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party there was criticism from the NEC about the weakness of trade unions in the Colony; it was suggested that the Hong Kong Government was against the development of the trade unions and that the situation was particularly bad in the seamen's unions. The NEC were also concerned about what they considered to be the failure of Hong Kong to apply certain ILO Conventions. The Overseas Labour Adviser, in consultation with the Department, is currently considering the desirability of a review of Hong Kong's trade union legislation and how this might best be darried out. The Secretary of State has requested a regular ministerial review of Hong Kong's performance in applying ILO Conventions.
8.
The Hong Kong defence contribution is currently about £10 million a year, some 20% of the total cost of the garrison. The present Defence Agreement expires in April 1976, and in the context of our own Defence Review it has been decided to reduce the size of the garrison somewhat and to ask Hong Kong to pay a higher proportion (between 50% and 75%) of the cost. Negotiations on a new Agreement, which has already been the subject of informal discussions
/between the
CONFIDENTIAL