TNAG-0049-FCO40-85-Responsibility-for-dependent-territories-interests-after-the-1968 — Page 6

W(B)L 51-7433

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

Registry No.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret.

Secret.

Confidential.

Restricted. Unclassified.

PRIVACY MARKING

..In Confidence

رقت

DRAFT

Minute

Type 1 +

2

To:-

Mr. Combs

From

Wis. Carte

£ Glover-

Telephone No. & Ext.

Department

Hong Kong

The Interests of Dependent Territories My minute of 26 August was no more than

an interim reply to Mr. Preston's minute to

you about keeping dependent territories

informed of international developments

affecting them. I explained that it would

be some time before I was able to give a

considered reply.

2.

I agree, of course, that there is a

problem here and one which needs to be

emphasised at this stage when the merger of

the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is

impending. Dependent territories, for whose

external relations we are responsible, are

not in a position to collect information

from abroad except perhaps on a very limited

basis through commercial channels.

Hong Kong for instance has only three

representatives overseas, in Washington, Geneva and Brussels and when their resources

stretchelto the limit they are obliged to be

selective in the matters that they pay

St must be attention to. I feel that it is our

responsibility as the metropolitian

country to do what we can to provide

/depende