TNAG-0461-FCO40-526-Exchange-of-newsletters-between-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Off-1974 — Page 43

CONFIDENTIAL

Importation of Wild Life from China

14.

In December the BBC broadcast a radio programme on the importation of wild life for human consumption from China into Hong Kong. The programme dealt both with the cruelty to these animals in Hong Kong, because of the conditions in which they are kept and the way in which they are slaughtered, and with the threat of extinction to certain species which this trade involves.

As you can imagine, this is a very emotive subject here and we have been inundated with letters from Members of Parliament, Ministers' constituents and members of the public. We are consulting the Governor on the line to take in reply to all these enquiries but by and large the real problem seems to be one of enforcement rather than legislation and it is undoubtedly true that laws against cruelty to animals in Hong Kong are not scrupulously observed.

that

15.

All the above was ably drafted by Mark Goodfellow and Pat Kelly. My only additional pennyworth is that the Mass Transit decision has, I fear, damaged the relationship. I am not sure that the extent of this damage is yet realised in Hong Kong, even by the Governor. The defence of the decision is, of course, it was commercially inescapable. But the DTI in general and Mr Walker in particular do not accept this. They take the line that no-one can yet know whether the Anglo-Italian bid might not have worked out cheaper than the Japanese, and that far from ensuring that the Japanese stick to their ceiling price, the elimination of all the competition is more likely to have the opposite effect. This has led to a certain amount of personal bitterness.

16.

The other event of note that you will have heard of, is that Mr Royle has resigned from the Government. His reasons are genuinely personal and he was pressed to stay. We will of course be losing a strong champion of Hong Kong. But Peter Blaker, who is almost certain to take over the same responsibilities within the Office, is as you know, equally well informed.

17.

Perhaps in view particularly of paragraph 15 above we had better continue to treat this as "Aston eyes only".

And a

happy New Year!

Yours cve

A C Stuart

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.

CONFIDEN TI AL

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