TNAG-0436-FCO40-501-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-international-organisations-1973 — Page 36

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dependent territories.

21. The attitude of previous governments to Committee of 24 visiting missions is described in the annex (paragraph 7). The previous Labour Government adopted a cautious approach. In general, they did not favour visiting missions, but were prepared to allow them in exceptional cases. The visiting

mission to Aden in 1967 is the only one to have taken place, and its results illustrated clearly the considerable dangers

inherent in such visits. The Labour Government also invited

the Committee to send a mission to observe a referendum in

Gibraltar, but this was refused because of the Committee's support for Spain's claim. The Labour Government's public position (as described, for example, in refusing the Committee's request for a mission to Fiji) was that while they had no

objection in principle to visiting missions, they had a duty as an Administering Power to decide whether any visit would

serve a useful purpose, and that in reaching this decision the

views of the local government would be a major consideration.

22. As Mr Richard recommends, there may now be scope for

accepting rather more visiting missions. Several of our terri-

tories would not present any targets for such missions as long

as the members were objective. On the other hand, there are still several territories which would be likely to provoke

criticism. Mr Richard mentions the Seychelles as one case (though this may possibly change). But there are others: the New Hebrides, Bermuda, British Antarctid Territory, BIOT, Cayman Islands, and Ascension Island (as well as Belize, the

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/Falkland Islands