TNAG-0345-FCO40-381-UK-and-Hong-Kong-talks-on-cotton-textiles-1972 — Page 54

TELEPHONE

TUES

THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION.

18 DIAMOND HOUSE

60

37/38 HATTON GARDEN

LONDON EC1N 8EB

Telephone: 01-405 6144

01-405 2729

31st January, 1972.

$

Dear Peter,

When we spoke on the telephone on the day after the dinner in the House of Commons, I undertook to jot down the main points raised.

Undoubtedly, the most important was the growing feeling in Hong Kong that, in view of its responsibility for this Crown Colony, the British Government is not sufficiently concerned with its affairs. The people in Hong Kong are forced to this conclusion by such things as the refusal to make a loan to finance the Kai Tak extension, particularly as the U.K. Government has the disposal of landing rights at the Airport and uses them to bargain for favourable treatment for B.0.A.C. elsewhere, and the passage of the Industrial Development (Ships) Bill as a result of which foreign shipyards in Europe get better treatment than Hong Kong's.

Another thing that rankled at the time was when the U.K. devalued Sterling in 1967: other Commonwealth countries were told in advance, but Hong Kong was telephoned in the early hours of a Sunday morning and told to do what they liked. On the occasion of the first post-war devaluation they were told to follow Sterling and expected to have to do the same again.

More recently, we have had the re-imposition of quotas on cotton textiles and in this case the dispute is not so much because of their re-imposition - a lot of people were half expecting this - but over the very short notice given and, as far as is known, the complete lack of consideration for the plans and commitments of manufacturers in Hong Kong and, indeed, of importers in this country.

I am afraid that a fooling of mintrust huu dovuloped in llong Kong und that the earliest opportunity should be taken