TNAG-0199-FCO40-235-City-district-officer-scheme-1969 — Page 4

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CONFIDENTIAL

IING KONG

I was very perturbed about the state of mind into wych Hong Kong (1.c. the Administration and the Unofficial Members of Executive and Legislative Councils as well as members of the Urban istrict Council) has worked itself over the F.C.O. It is not too much to describe it as a neurosis even if largely self-induced.

2.

The irrationality of this attitude makes it/difficult to analyse but the following elements can be distinguished behind it. (a) An office staffed from the Diplomatic Service necessarily has

to have frequent changes of personnel fit was pointed out to me that there had been three Assistant Under-Secretaries of state dealing with liong Kong in less than/that number of years): this means that there cannot be the same intimate and (by inference) sympathetic advocacy of Hong Kong interests in Whitehall as they have enjoyed in the past.

(b)

(c)

(a)

The Diplomatic Service are trained to be the spokesmen of I.M.G. This means that, where there is a clash of interest between II.1.6. and Hong Kong (c.son trade matters) the F.C.0. is more likely to be a post office for the views of other Whitehall Departments than the defender of Hong Kong's peculiar interests. The advantage of having the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretory as their spokesman in Cabinet matters is more apparent thon real because it is not humanly possible for a Minister with his enormous burden of responsibilities to devote the same amount of time and energy to Hong Kong's problems as less highly placed Ministers (i.c, the Commonwealth Secretary and a fortiori the Colonial Secretary) could in the past.

With the effluxion of time the problem would become worse not better with the disappearance of those few in the Diplomatic Service who had had experience or looking after Colonial Administrations () became almost neurotic myself after being told by so many people that Mr. Morgan and myself were the last of a/generation, soon ourselves to sink into the oblivion of retirement!).

CONFIDENTIAL

3.