Mr Larmour
PS/Lord Goronyy-Roberts
COVERING SECRET
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HONG KONG: THE PLANNING PAPER
3077
Mr. Stewart
1K).
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Problem
1.
At his meeting on 22 July with the Governor of Hong Kong, the Secretary of State gave his implicit approval to the "Planning Paper on Hong Kong" as the basis of action for further social, economic and institutional reforms in Hong Kong and in respect to relations
between the British and Hong Kong Governments.
2. At his meeting with the Governor on 21 July, Lord Goronwy-Roberts emphasised that the Planning Paper represented the minimum (reforms) that HMG could regard as acceptable. The Governor said that he was in agreement with the Paper and saw no serious problem in seeing the programme through the Legislative Council within the projected time
scale.
3. Should we now record formally Ministers' intention that the programme contained in the Planning Paper represents HMG's policy on development in Hong Kong?
Recommendation
4. I recommend that a copy of the Planning Paper be sent to the Governor of Hong Kong under cover of a despatch signifying the Secretary of State's approval of the Paper as the basis for development in Hong Kong during the next five years. I attach a draft.
Argument
5.
The policies prepared in the Planning Paper represent an important stage in Hong Kong's development. The codification of these plans and their acceptance by Ministers is an occasion of sufficient moment to be recorded formally. As a precedent one can cite Mr Callaghan's despatch HX 2/1 of 13 June 1975 forwarding to Governors of Dependent Territories a policy paper on the future of the Dependent Territories (except Hong Kong).
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