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CONFIDENTIAL STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
P.A
Reference.
Mr Stewart (0.1.)
ASSIGNMENT OF AN ECONOMIST TO HKD
1.
Mr Smith's minute of 12 January supersedes what I said in paragraph 2 of my minute of 11 January about the appointment of an economist to HKD. As you will see, this proposal will have to be dropped for the time being.
2.
I am not in favour of pursuing the idea in paragraph 3 of Mr Smith's minute, namely that we might seek to make use of the services of one of the economists in the joint FCO/ODM DTEU. It
is true that, as you will see from page 76 of the Office Directory, Mr Beattie, the Head of the Unit, is shown as having responsibility for "other territories". This could be taken to include (or we could seek to make it include) Hong Kong. In practice, however, as you will know from Mr Beattie's contributions at the Monday meetings of the Departments in the DTD, the work of the DTEU is directed solely to territories in receipt of aid. It would be asking a lot of the DTEU to direct its attention to the problems of a quite different sort of territory and I can foresee that the ODM might raise objections to any DTEU resources being used in relation to a territory that does not fit its aid criteria.
3. In fact, I do not see that there is a need for us to look elsewhere than to the Economists Department proper for advice on Hong Kong. Mr Smith has become the Economic Adviser on Hong Kong and since he has agreed to continue to help us I do not think that there is any real problem.
4. With the appointment of an economist in abeyance, I think that we ought to ask POD/PPD to reconsider their view that the question of strengthening HKD in any other way should be put in suspense pending the proposed merger of the General Section, etc, of GGD with HKD. As I have implied in my minute of 11 January, I do not think that there is any necessary connection between the two things. I do not see that the bringing of the General Section etc under HKD's roof will increase the resources available to the Department as a whole for keeping a closer watch on Hong Kong's affairs. The General Section etc will presumably continue to be staffed as at present and the only result of the merger seems likely to be that the Head of the enlarged Department and the Assistant by virtue of supervising their work, will have less time than present to devote to Hong Kong's affairs. If it is agreed that more resources should be devoted to Hong Kong's affairs, I think that action to bring this out should proceed independently from the question of the merger of the General Section etc. As you will see from the papers behind Mr Jasper's minute of 6 January, any merger is not likely to happen until March/April at the earliest. I believe that there is a reasonably good case for re-establishing the Grade 9 post in the Department which was abolished, mistakenly in my view, in March last year. I suggest that we should again put this proposition to Curtis Green.
A.F. Meilton
D F Milton
GODE 18 - 77
13 January 1976
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
CONFIDENTIAL