TNAG-0205-FCO40-241-Pensions-policy-1970 — Page 72

On

that the political situation will evolve normally.

the other hand we can presuppose that one day the

Colonial Government will be succeeded, possibly without

warning, by a Government which will not assume the

obligation to pay any pensions earned by service under

the Colonial Government, whether by expatriate or local

HMG may therefore expect one day to inherit

officers.

that obligation itself and to be in no position to con-

test the fact. Things may turn out to be different but

we cannot safely assume that they will.

onthuid in the last paragraph

So far this is an argument apparently leading to

the tentative conclusion of ODM that a Hong Kong pension

fund should be established in the UK. But there is

another unusual ingredient in the Hong Kong situation.

the There cannot be any public reference to this prospect

at least by the Hong Kong Government or by HMG. If

there were, it would have an immediate adverse affect

on the state of confidence in the Colony, on which its

prosperity, and perhaps its existence, depends. Not

only can it not be said: it cannot be implied. It might will

would be implied if any special steps, distinct from

those which would normally be taken in a dependent

territory, were to be taken in Hong Kong to safeguard

the public sector pensions by, for example, establishing

an external fund. I do not intend to take this argument

further at present because ODM have only said that the

previous exploratory discussions on this subject might

be resuscitated. It would in any case be for the Hong

Kong Government to say what the effect on political

confidence would be if such a measure were adopted. But

on the face of it it would be politically provocative to

establish an external pension fund because this would

provide the Communists with an excellent propaganda

weapon

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