TNAG-0570-FCO40-703-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 83

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

7447 D070540 101M 8/74 Cr.P.C. 839/3

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

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would thus be helpful to both sides if a regular reporting procedure existed for the implementation

of the programmes to explain what progress is being

made and whether the programme has had to be modified (giving in the latter case the reasons)

It is,

of course, always open to the Secretary of State,

where he is not satisfied with these reasons, or

where he judges these to be outweighed by HMG's

interests to issue Instructions to the Governor in

accordance with Article II of the Letters Patent. But, obviously the decision to issue Instructions

should be taken only after carefully considering

whether the advantages of intervention outweigh the A class making it more different for the Hong Kong risks of a constitutional, crisis in Hong Kong, the Government to Chery onto the police divrented in this paper avoidance of which is sardinal to the strategy of this

Paper

*

135

The Governor will, of course, need to remain the

principal link between the Secretary of State and Hong

Kong. His position is a delicate one, since he must

represent the views of HMG to Hong Kong and those of

Hong Kong to HMG: occasionally these conflict, and there is constant (if uninformed) suspicion in Hong

Kong that local interests may be subordinated to British ones. A telling example is the Governor's inability to persuade Hong Kong opinion to accept the Secretary of State's refusal to support executions in Hong Kong because the population could not comprehend the refusal

except in UK political terms not. related to care for

their welfare. On the other hand he was able to 'sell'

/the

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