TNAG-0461-FCO40-526-Exchange-of-newsletters-between-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Off-1974 — Page 3

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

British Trade Commission in Hong Kong 7th Floor Shell House Queens Road Central Hong Kong

Mail Address PO Box No 528 Hong Kong

Telex HX 3031

Cable Address Uktrade Hong Kong Telephone H-230176

R&T t.*

REGISTRY No. 51 SODINIMA

HkKb/548/5

Your reference HKK 6/548/5

A. C. Stuart, Esq.,

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, S. W. 1.

Our reference

5/8

Date

24 December 1974

4

bens Andrew,

ману

THE 30/in!

NEX?

REF.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

2.

Our turn

Mn Stunt

I which.

ein

DUT

Dwi zulm

Thank you for your letter HKK 6/548/5 of 19 November.

По

8)

Br. Tyhms Could you use consider what other depts should

ree this

I was glad to see that Lord Stokes and Reardon of BLI had asked to see the Governor. While he seemed somewhat reluctant to see them, the more that can be done to impress upon the top management of British Leyland the need to meet Hong Kong's requirements the better.

3. Subject to clearance in London, I have been fitted into the programme for Lord Goronwy-Roberts' visit and will be arranging for him to meet some of the leading members of the British business community.

Chinese Illegal Immigration

Aa

Copy &

MILUM ACÉ

2/1

MA HOLLAND

4. There has been the inevitable reaction in the press, including a particularly scathing leading article by Derek Davies of the Far Eastern Economic Review. But Denis Brayne told me yesterday that the message seemed to have got through and there had been a marked fall off in the number of illegal immigrants. It is difficult to judge whether the issue

then illu

is one which the man in the street feels strongly about. I suspect it it?

not, and that at a time of growing unemployment, or underemployment, self-interest will prevail.

Mass Transit

listed reptioned J: 3%

5. You will have had a copy of my letter about the mass transit negotia- tions. I sent you a telegram yesterday about a press report suggesting that major modifications were being proposed. A source close to the negotiations told us recently that there really was no point in the Hong Kong Government prolonging the agony any further as it was quite clear that the Japanese could get nowhere near the HK$5,000 million figure. This is borne out by the information trickling through from Tokyo. I gather, however, that the talks in January are not likely to be the last; and that if they do break down, as I think they will, the contingency plan, at least at official level, is to split the whole thing up into separate contracts (all this assuming that they decide to go ahead at all).

Economic

6. The floating of the Hong Kong dollar has not been received too well by

LAST ENTRY.

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

/the banking and