TNAG-0389-FCO40-435-Visit-of-trade-mission-of-the-London-Chamber-of-Commerce-and-1973 — Page 52

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as an export market (in the first half of 1973 we exported

more to Hong Kong than we did to the Soviet Union) : as a

source of invisible earnings : as a base for trade over a

very wide area : and of course as a very important

contributor to Britain's sterling reserves. No Briton can

see for the first time Hong Kong's amazing achievements in

the economic, social and cultural fields, achievements which

have been accomplished against considerable odds after the

devastations of the war, and which reflect the greatest

credit on the people of Hong Kong working together with the

Hong Kong Government a British administration no Briton

could see all this without feeling proud of his country's

contribution and without feeling convinced that this

contribution must be maintained and if possible increased.

Gwat

But don't let us forget that Hong Kong's postwar progress from

devastation to prosperity stemmed from a partnership.

Between partners who owe much to each other, calculations

of who gets most out of the partnership seem to me unprofitable and indeed rather distasteful. I suppose that

it is inevitable that these calculations should be made :

but so far as Britain and Hong Kong are concerned, if they are

made fairly, I don't think Britain need worry too much about

the result. Britain is your second best market, buying from

you

as much as you buy from us : a considerable

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source of capital a source of skills of all sorts. But

what matters most of all, is it not ?, is the framework which

Britain provides, the political and economic base without which Hong Kong's economic miracle would hardly be conceivable.

In my diplomatic career and since I have often found profound

misunderstanding about the British colonial system and

especially the totally mistaken idea that in its heyday

Britain's commercial pre-eminence ../..