TNAG-0436-FCO40-501-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-international-organisations-1973 — Page 81

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Mr Keeble, UN Dept.

Reference..

CONFIDENTIAL

UK ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE COMMITTEE OF 24

1.

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I have the following comments on Mr Ivor Richard's letter of 16 April which I would be glad to discuss at an office meeting as you suggest.

Hong Kong

2.

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The colony has been removed from the concern of the Committee of 24 at the instance of the Chinese Government, who claim that Hong Kong is an integral part of Chinese territory. This caused us no problems during the period when we were not cooperating with the Committee anyway. But although we are content the

Chinese should assert their claim in this context, would not wish to do anything positive that implied that we ourselves do not regard Hong Kong as a dependency of the UK, like all the rest. I am not the expert on UN procedures. But will it be possible to cooperate with the Committee of 24 without supplying details of all our dependent territories, including Hong Kong, in a way that might bring us into conflict with the Chinese Government?

Seychelles

3.

Mr Richard suggests in para. 7(a) of his letter that, unlike all the other UK dependent territories, Seychelles does arouse violent political passions and prejudices at the UN. Presumably this is because of the Tanzanian nationality of the Chairman of the Committee of 24. Mr Richard may well be right in suggesting that the position will be easier after the Seychelles elections on 25 April. Given that both political parties now want independence, if either of them get an undeniable mandate at the elections, then there could well be small danger and gome gain in agreeing to a UN visiting mission to observe the colony moving towards independence.

But if, as is also possible, there are accusations of election rigging, and particularly if the Chief Minister's party, the SDP, get more seats, but the Opposition more votes, then I could imagine a visiting mission, which might well be prejudiced towards the Opposition, acting as a catalyst of disturbances in the post-election period. I therefore recommend that, since Seychelles seems to be crucial to Mr Richard's proposals, we should delay a decision on them, at least until the results of the elections are clear that is, perhaps, until mid-May.

BIOT

14.

There is no reference to BIOT in Mr Richard's letter. I am sure that in present_circumstances we would not want a UN visiting mission to Diego Garcia. Nor

/would the

CONFIDENTIAL