TNAG-0377-FCO40-423-Defence-and-Oversea-Policy-Committee-review-of-UK-relations--1973 — Page 82

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of his closest advisers on Executive and Legislative

Councils believe that all too often we ignore Hong Kong's

interests in taking policy decisions.

The Governor is the

channel to HMG for the hopes and aspirations of the four

million people of Hong Kong who look to us to fulfil the

wording of Article 73 of the UN Charter that as an

administering power we should recognise the interests of

the peoples of our dependent territories as paramount. While

we obviously cannot ignore our own direct interests, it seems

to me that we must accept the responsibility of striking a

fair balance between them and those of Hong Kong wherever there

may be a conflict.

4.

We have in the present Governor a man who knows Whitehall

better than any of his predecessors, who understands our

position, and who does not make demands of us except when the

substantial interests of Hong Kong are involved. We should

help him where we can. The difficulty is that the issues which arise may well affect only one of our several Departments, and

in each particular case there may seem an irrefutable case for

pursuing the narrow United Kingdom interest. But when several

such issues arise at the same time, each perhaps not of over-

riding importance in itself, the cumulative effect can

seriously damage confidence in our administration and thus our

/underlying

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