Mr Champion
RESTRICTED
THE FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51
- 5 DEC 1974
1. I have one general comment on the draft paper enclosed with your minute of 27 November and several detailed points.
2.
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The first arises from Mr Preston's minute of 4 December. I agree with him that it is not necessary to ask DOPC to approve the initiation of studies on the dependent territories. We can do this ourselves. But we must have a fremework of policy within which the studies can be drafted. I take it that this is the purpão of the DOFC submission; and it is a legitimate purpose.
I think the answer would be to redraft para. 8 of the paper as an invitation to DOPC to endorse the policy of rapid decolonisation where the individual papers now to be drafted do not show a clear balance of advantage (to the UK and the local inhabitants combined) of maintaining the status quo. I think DOPC will also have to take some position on the alternative aid philosophies of the shop-window and self-sustaining poverty.
3. The following are my points of detail arising from the draft paper by officials.
(a) Para. 1. Seychelles is not typical of the
process of movement towards independence since the war. I would prefer to delete the last 10 words of the first sentence.
(b) Para. 2. I think the background must start
with a factual statement of the remaining dependent territories. This is scattered through the rest of the paper, but should I think be concentrated at the beginning. possibly by transposing paras. 2 and 3.
(c) Para. 5(a)(i). Redraft the last half as
follows:
"... policy of successive British Governments that the constitutional status quo should be maintained, and that Hong Kong (which pays for itself apart from some defence cost) should be encouraged to develop as a place where the present overwhelmingly Chinese popul: tion wish to live and work.
"
(a) Para. 5(a)(iii). Redraft as follows:
"British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). Thore is no permanent population. Diego Garcia will remain a location for defence facilities in the Indian Ocean in association with the United States. We will have to reconsider with the Americans the future of the three ex-Seychelles islands, Farquhar, Desroches
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