CONFIDENTIAL
5.
At the meeting on 21 July the Secretary of State also wondered whether the Labour Advisory Board in Hong Kong (a body consisting of four employers' representatives end four workers representatives with the Commissioner for Labour as Chairman) could be developed into a body with wider representation somewhat analogous to the NEDC to give advice on economic and social matters besides the narrower field of industrial and labour relations. He
said that he would like to consider the possibility of discussing, with the Chinose, the desirability of more active Communist trade union interest in such a body or more generally in the processes of government during his visit to Peking next year.
6.
The Governor's reactions to these ideas have been predictable. He has defended the performance of the present Labour Advisory Board, claiming that the machinery for consultation which preceded the passing of the recent Labour Relations Bill in July had worked well. He saw no insuperable difficulty to an academic enquiry into labour relations in the Colony but viewed with dismay any prospect of the Secretary of State, during his visit to Foking next year, discussing the possibility of involving Communist trade unions in the governmental processes. In his view (which I Ambassador Peking and the Department emphatically share) such a discussion would almost certainly produce no result but would carry the risk of the Chinese drawing the conclusion that this was a studied move towards involving them in the administration of Hong Kong. No such move should, in our opinion, be made unless and until some change in the status of Hong Kong was contemplated: otherwise we could lose control of the situation. Hr Ambassador Peking has alco advised that our existing policy of dealing with local issues only in Hong Kong ensures that they do not involve the wider question of Sino-British relations.
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department
27 November 1975
CON-IDENTIAL
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