TNAG-0289-FCO40-325-Departmental-briefs-on-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 55

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(iii) British Council and BBC

British Council works in close collaboration with

the information services, and has to a limited

extent been able to offset the drastic reduction

in information activity. Both the Indonesian/

Malay and the Chinese services of BBC are received

in Malaysia: their costs are £48,000 and

£80,600 respectively.

(iv) General assessment

Malaysia is important to us economically, as one

of the most prosperous South East Asian countries,

and also, particularly with the change of our

East of Suez policy, in a politico/military sense.

She has been going through a difficult period both

internally and in her relations abroad. From

being very closely identified with British

interests in the area, she is now developing a

policy of non-alignment as between the great

power-blocks, and has adopted the long-term aim

of securing the "neutralisation" of the region by

collective super-power guarantee.

Our attitude to this on the political level is

currently under discussion, but it is likely to

be recommended that we should adopt a more

positive approach to it than at present, and that

we should take every oportunity unattributably

to help the Malaysians to recognise the pitfalls

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