TNAG-0420-FCO40-466-Registration-of-merchant-shipping-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 43

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BRITISH TRADE COMMISSION IN HONG KONG

7th Floor, Shell House, Queen's Road, Central, HONG KONG Mail Address: P.O. Box No. 528, Hong Kong Cable Address: "Uktrade Hongkong"

Telephone- 230176

it

103

Our reference: 21/12 Your reference:

CONFIDENTIAL

M A Goodfellow Esq

HKI OD

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51

LAST

REF.

90

18 SEP 1973

HKK. 21/2

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

London S W 1

Dear Mark.

HONG KONG REGISTER OF SHIPPING

REF.

13 September 1973

HKK 6/548/5

Covered by Me Stuart

Ocrober

in his Defiber foullity letter

letter on bringing panerally (MKK 6/5485/16) bring up

Thank you for sending me (your letter of 4 September) a copy of the Draft Heads of Agreement. It is pleasing to see that this disputed issue at least is coming to what seems to be a sensible compromise solution after a lot of "hard lining" on both sides.

PA

I of course realise that this is only for my own information (and that of my senior staff) and that there is no action for me except that I can look sensibly informed, be appropriately congratulatory and encourage appropriate appreciation of the British Government's readiness to find a compromise to meet Hong Kong's wishes. But I sincerely hope that thought is being given to how to ensure that at the earliest suitable time appropriate publicity is given in Hong Kong to the concessions that the British Government has made to meet the Hong Kong requests on this. Unless we do so I fear that the emphasis in press comment and other publice here will be heavily (if not exclusively) on how the Hong Kong side official and ship owners squeezed the concession out of a grudging British Government which was concerned to placate UK shipowners and British seamens trade unions. As I have reported frequently in other contexts we are going through a particularly difficult period in our P R image; we are publicly all fault and little or no virtue, taking advantage of our colonial control over Hong Kong which is all virtue and little or no fault. When we do make concessions therefore it behoves us to make the most of them and preferably to do so our- selves rather than expecting others to blow our trumpet for us.

Perhaps the visit of the UK study team in the Autumn would be the occasion for a first blow.

TWA/YAS

027

PS

Yours

Tom

T W Aston

Senior British Trade Commissioner

Z

10

Literally as I was signing this to catch the bag about to depart I saw your telegrams 900 and 901 to the Governor about press on this. This of course goes some way to meeting my point but I think it still worth sending the letter, To make the remainder of the point, ie that in the publicity as it develops, we should ensure that the British Government get proper acknowledgement

German gitch Rainieffortantq accommodate Hone, Kong, & requirements. sions in that inf Westiered nearvingt vitected threxa&IShethandleithe publicity atleast at this

CONFIDENTIAL

Every effort is mitan ke dilute),

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stage.