NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
W(B)L 51-7406
?1989 I am pressing
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Could not this sum be provided without
difficulty from your Technical Assistance
vote, with the balance being made available
later ?
7. When you mentioned that Hong Kong tends
to grumble about neglect, you touched on the
most important single factor responsible for
the souring of our relations with Hong Kong in
recent years. As you say, we have not been
running an aid programme to the Colony for
several years. Even when we did, it was by
no means a generous programme in comparison
with the size of our programmes to other
dependent territories in similar eircumstances.
The Hong Kong complaint is in fact that in the
post war years we left the Colony to grapple
alone, without significant financial assistance,
with the tremendous problems posed by the
influx of refugees from China. At the same
we are seen in Hong Kong ashaving dealt the
Colony a series of blows to its trade and
finances: the restrictions on its exports of
1959 cotton textiles to this country since 1969, the
import surcharge (1964), the increase in the
defence contribution (1966) we are now
engaged in difficult negotiations with a view
to increasing the size of the defence contribu-
tion still further, devaluation (1967), the
import deposit scheme (1968) and the decision
to impose a tariff on cotton textile imports
from the Commonwealth (1969). Our actions
are seen as showing a lack of concern for Hong
Kong's interests and forher special problems
as indicating an indifference to the special
ties and relationship which should subsist
between a Colony and the responsible power.
3.
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