NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
3
impost
Department has failed sufficiently to take into account
the nature of the guarantor on whom it is sucking to
unnecessarily stringent
such harsh obligations as set out in (a) (c) of
para 3 above. Here, Conditions designed to avoid
sharp practice by commercial undertakings are quite
out of place. Not only has the Hong Kong Government
an unblemished financial record but it is the
There is no question of
Government of a Crown Colony, in contrast to a
changing that status. commercial undertaking
which stricter conditions
As such
might properly be imposed.
it is a
Government whose obligations and actions are ultimately
the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government through
the person of the Secretary of State for Commonwealth
Affairs.
5.
imagine
Under these circumstances I weld have thought
it was within the discretion of your Department to
relax
somewhat its normally strict requirements, as to
the sort of guarantees it may require from the Hong Kong
Government.
6.
We have not yet informed the Hong Kong Government
of the provisos (a), (b) & (c) set out in para 3 above,
but to do so now when there was no mention of them at
the meeting on 27th October attended by offrinh
See
Hong Kong
as well as by a representative of your
Department, would almost certainly strengthen their
suspicion that H.M.G. is seeking any pretext to escape from giving
extricate itself from financial support for the project
by imposing unacceptably severe conditions.
7.
I would therefore urge your Department most
strongly to forgo those additional requirements
mentioned in the letter SL/CW 24126/35 pt 3 of
1st November.
Without them, the guarantees which the
/Hong Kong
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