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CONFIDENTIAL
g Kong and were responsible; the Chinese did not quarrel with that.
There are two issues between us and the Chinese at present: their
request
which we have refused, but which they are likely to continue
to press
to establish an official representative in the Colony; and
the recent increase in Chinese immigration into the Colony, measures
to control which have been the subject of ongoing discussions at official
level between the Chinese and Hong Kong Governments, and will be a
matter for Ministerial decision shortly.
4. Relations between Hong Kong and the United Kingdom have recently
been uneasy.
The Colony cannot move towards independence or self-
government, but in other respects it is like a semi-autonomous city
state. This complicates the relationship. There are a number of
The
current issues, none of them vital, but cumulatively important.
most politically sensitive for the United Kingdom is the death penalty.
Public opinion in Hong Kong strongly favours hanging in extreme cases.
Other current problems include the rate of social development in
Hong Kong, which the TUC, for example, believe is too slow; the
proportion of its defence costs which Hong Kong should contribute when
the present Defence Agreement expires in 1976; the Colony's policy on
repatriation of illegal immigrants (notably to South Vietnam); and the
treatment of Hong Kong's exports to Britain and the EEC. Conversely, a
problem for the United Kingdom has been the Hong Kong Government's
acceptance of a pre-emptive Japanese bid for the construction of
Hong Kong's proposed £500 million Underground Railway, and their
corresponding rejection of proposals for construction by an Anglo/Italian
consortium.
5. For the significance of Macao to Hong Kong see paragraph 2 of
Paper No.41.
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.
CONFIDENTIAL