CONFIDENTIAL.
12
ROVAL VISITS COMMITTEE: VISIT BY H.M. THE QUEEN JO HONG KONG.
Since a visit by H.M. The Queen to Malaysia and Thailand
was first suggested in 1964, we have been considering whether it would
be possible for the tour to include a visit to Hong Kong. The matter
has never come to a decision since a firm date for the visit to
Malaysia and Thailand has not been fixed.
2.
We have been reluctant to forego a visit to Hong Kong because
it would be extremely difficult to explain why The Queen could not
include it in her tour of the area. There has never been a visit to the
Colony by a reigning British monarch. Hong Kong is now, in terms of
population and economic activity, by far the biggest of our remaining
Colonial territories. Such a visit would be the best possible
affirmation of continuing British interest, a great fillip to local
morale and fit recognition of the immense and successful efforts which
the Colony has made to meet some very difficult post-war problems.
3. On the other hand there are strong grounds for concluding that
there might be an unacceptable Chinese reaction. They would be likely
to regard a visit as a display of British sovereignty over Chinese
territory which could not be allowed to pass unchallenged. At the least,
their reaction might exacerbate relations with the Colony; at present it
is Chinese policy to leave the Colony alone. At the worst, it might
provoke a violent reaction which would seriously damage confidence (and
the economy) of the territory. Any Chinese reaction would tend to mar
the enjoyment and purpose of the visit. A visit might provide the
Chinese with a means of putting pressure upon us to achieve other aims
of Chinese policy (e.g. withdrawal of facilities enjoyed by American
forces in Hong Kong, with reluctance we have tended in the past to go
along with the Foreign Office view that a visit by The Queen would be
unwise.
14.
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