MONDHANDAND
SECRET-ECLIPSE
香港總督府
Sir,
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
C HONG KONG
HONG
1st January 1973
This despatch contains my annual report for
1972. A calendar of events is attached. 1972 is also the first year of my return to Hong Kong after an absence of 10 years, and in the unfamiliar role of Governor, so it also contains some first impressions.
22.
First of all the tunnel and the underground railway. The most newsworthy events of the year in Hong Kong were the opening of a four-lane tunnel under the harbour joining Victoria to Kowloon, and the progressive moves of the Government nearer to placing a contract for a £500 million underground railway. The former is an incomparable convenience and a great engineering feat by a British firm. The latter, though still not finally decided, is a massive project, and the contracts involved are what interest many Governments most about Hong Kong at this moment. But these items rate a first mention in this despatch because they are symbolic. In the 10 years since I last knew it Hong Kong has arrived. It has made its mark in world terms as a great centre of industry, trade, communications, finance and tourism. It used to be a singularly successful little colony, but it has blossomed into one of the great cities of the world. Somehow, to resident and visitor alike, the presence of the tunnel and the prospect of the underground symbolise this change.
7.3.
Though Hong Kong's stature may have changed the hard facts which govern its existence have not. Its four million inhabitants and their government are still dependent on the one hand for their livelihood and revenue on the growth of export industries, and on the other for their very existence, on the policy of the Chinese Government.
4.
Taking the former first, economically what matters most to Hong Kong is what happens in overseas markets - especially North America, but also the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan. In this vital field the year has seen a host of problems; notably the first year of restricted exports of non-cotton textiles to the United States, and the imposition of restrictions on polyester/cotton textile exports to the United Kingdom, and as I write the European Economic Community is showing all the signs of following this lead.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, KT, MP
There has
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SECRET-ECLIPSE
107585
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