CONFIDENTIAL
As Chief Secretary, Sir Denys is head of the Hong Kong Civil Service. Two aspects of the Hong Kong Civil Service have recently been causing concern:
1) the growing demand for more and faster localization at the most senior levels: at present only two Government Secretaries, Home Affairs and Social Services, are Chinese and there are also only two High Court Judges. The Hong Kong Government has stated that its policy on promotion is non-discriminatory but this is met with some scepticism in the face of the facts;
ii) the growing number of industrial disputes within the Civil Service, particularly amongst the junior Chinese staff. Individually the disputes are fairly minor but, taken together, they give the impression of a failure in personnel management.
As Acting Governor Sir Denys will presumably also wish to review the major current issues of government policy. These include:
Corruption and the police - see notes for meetings with Mr Slevin and Mr Cater;
The budget - see note for call on the Acting Financial Secretary;
Social development - see notes for calls on the Secretaries of Housing and Social Services;
Trade - see notes for calls on the Secretary for Trade, Industry & Customs and the Acting British Trade Commissioner.
12.30 p.m.
Meeting with UMELCO
UMELCO is the group of non-official members of the Legislative and Executive Councils. At present they number 28, of whom 21 are Hong Kong Chinese, 16 members are from the commercial sector, 8 from the professions, 1 social worker, 1 priest and 2 trades unionists. It is a long-term aim to widen the social base of UMELCO.
UMELCO usually take advantage of meetings with officials from London to rehearse their well-known grievances against the UK. There are four major ones at present.
a) Textiles: there was a good deal of bitterness at the time of the signing of the new EEC/Hong Kong Bilateral Textile Agreement last December because the UK was thought to have "led the pack" against Hong Kong. Our position is that we were only one of 9 members of the EEC who agreed that stricter
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CONFIDENTIAL