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4.
At present the memorandum is a United Kingdom
classified paper. We should like, however, to downgrade
it so that copies can at least be made available to local
Ministers or legislatures. There may be advantage in
giving it even wider circulation, both in the Dependent
Territories themselves and in Britain. I should be grate-
ful for your advice on this. Are there any changes which
you believe should be made before the memorandum is more
widely disseminated? On the face of it, it is a
perfectly straightforward statement of policy, and I see
no reason why it should not be made generally known.
We would, of course, ensure that, if this were done,
the special position of Hong Kong and the other
'political' territories was made clear.
5.
One additional factor which could accelerate wider
dissemination is that Ministers may decide that the
memorandum should be given to the House of Commons Select
Committee on Foreign Affairs which will almost certainly
be looking at the problem of Dependent Territories during
the year.
Since the Committee's activities are normally
open this would amount to publication in the United
Kingdom. We will, of course, keep you informed about
this.
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