SECRET
Chinese Attitude towards Hong Kong
China's economic
interest in
Hong Kong
are not really interested in constitutional reform. Their
desire is to live and work in a well established system of law and order and pursue their own private affairs with a minimum of interference from the Government.
12. In view of the obvious limitations on constitutional
development in the sphere of central Government, the Hong Kong Government is examining the possibility of using the machinery of local government as a medium through which the people of the Colony may be given a greater opportunity of associating themselves with the conduct of their affairs.
The Report of a working party on this subject was published in 1967 and is now being widely studied in Hong Kong.
present conditions, however, the process of public
consultation is likely to be protracted.
RELATIONS WITH CHINA
13. The Communist Peoples Government of China, (like previous Chinese Governments) regard Hong Kong as
Chinese territory, wrested from the mainland during a
period of weakness and to be recovered in due course. The Chinese official attitude, pronounced in March 1963 and re-affirmed in 1965, is that Hong Kong is a legacy from unequal treaties in the past and that China's claim
will be settled peacefully through negotiations when the
time is ripe.
14.
In
China has very strong economic incentives to leave
undisturbed the status quo in Hong Kong. China earns an
annual surplus of more than £200 million on invisible and visible trading accounts through Hong Kong (a very substantial part of its total foreign exchange earnings)
and is making considerable efforts to increase these
earnings. The principle sources are food exports to Hong Kong and remittances through Hong Kong from overseas
Chinese. Direct exports from China through Hong Kong are
no longer on a large scale, but China is increasingly using the facilities offered by Hong Kong export houses and banks
for its trade with the West.
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