TNAG-0358-FCO40-394-Registration-of-merchant-shipping-in-Hong-Kong-1972 — Page 119

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Sir Duncan Watson

CONFIDENTIAL

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HONG KONG REGISTER OF SHIPPING

1.

2.

I have discussed with Mr Foggon his minute to you of

14 November. All his points (except (a)) are valid warnings

which we must bear in mind. Point (a) in effect says that the

concessions at present agreed are even less than we thought.

Before giving the Shipping Register to Hong Kong we must

be satisfied that this transfer would not result in the

deterioration of standards which Mr Foggon fears. We would

also have to be able to satisfy the other interests concerned,

including the Trade Unions, that this was so. However, it

seems that, for example, the power to relax manning standards

is already in the Hong Kong Government's hands. They are not

at the moment using this power, but we are suggesting as a

"concession" that they should do so. At the same time DTI

seem to have conceded that to transfer the Register would in

fact give no new powers to the Hong Kong Government. Never-

theless we are hesitating to go ahead because we cannot believe

that Mr Y K Pao would be asking for something which would give

him nothing, and because we fear that British Trade Unions

would make the same deduction and would suspect that we had

given away something substantial.

3. Clearly before making any concession we will have to check

once again whether it is substantial or not. This is largely

for the DTI. My only point is that if we decide that the

1

CONFIDENTIAL

/concession