TNAG-0279-FCO40-315-Visit-of-Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Aff-1970 — Page 92

CONFIDENTIAL

For example, there has been the occasional telegram to a number

of our Posts which has been repeated to the Governor asking him to

take action with the Government to which he is accredited). We

think, however, that Hong Kong officials are now less inclined to

be ruffled by these mistakes and ready to make allowances for the

short time the merged office has been operating, for the more

frequent staff changes and for the inevitable unfamiliarity with the

position in dependent territories of staff who come in fresh from

posting overseas.

Hong Kong's sense of insecurity

7.

Finally, it is possibly worth mentioning that this mixture

of the "unwanted and neglected child" outlook on the one hand and

brash confidence on the other stems very largely from a sense of

insecurity which is only natural given the Colony's exposed

geopolitical position. The former was very much in evidence

during the 1967 troubles when the Governor repeatedly felt the

need to ask for Ministerial expressions of support and sympathy.

Today, when the future looks more secure, confidence in the

Colony's ability "to go it alone" is in the ascendant.

Hong Kong Department

April 1970

CONFIDENTIAL