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drew attention to the various political constraints on the Governor's action and the impossibility of tilting the playing field in favour of British companies. The award of major contracts would have to be submitted to ExCo for
approval and would also be subject to scrutiny by the LegCo Finance Committee. Given the politics of Hong Kong, it was simply not feasible for the Governor to display an overt
British bias.
8.
Mr Rogers and Mr Love expressed concern about the proposed timing of Mr Parkinson's visit to Hong Kong
(5-9 January) in view of Mr Lilley's plans to visit Hong
Kong the following week. Too many PADS related visits could
be counter-productive. Mr Burns agreed that the bunching of Ministerial visits in this way was undesirable and that a visit by Mr Lilley should take priority.
Nationality
9. Mr Burns said that there would need to be some DTI
involvement in the Advisory Committee on British
Undertakings, even though most of the information would have
to come from the SBTC. It was agreed that Mr Paul would
write to Mr Love on this subject, with details of the proposed definition of a British company. The budgetary implications of this exercise would also have to be addressed in view of the fees likely to be charged by
Companies House for checking company information held on their register.
Hong Kong's Future as a Financial Centre
10. Mr Burns said that we might need to enlist the DTI's
help in assessing some of the current concerns expressed by the business community about Hong Kong's future as a
financial centre.
Henry Keswick had been hinting strongly
that unless the HKG changed its attitude on extraterritoriality, Jardines would withdraw from the Hong
Kong Stock Exchange in the near future. It was also clear
from a recent Hong Kong Association lunch that there was a
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