TNAG-0571-FCO40-704-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 30

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CONFIDENTIAL

RECORD OF THE MEETING BETWEEN THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS AND THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG HELD AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY 21 JULY 1976 AT 4 PM

Those present:

1.

Mr Ted Rowlands MP

Mr Hurst

Mr Janvrin

Mr Young

Sir Murray MacLehose

Mr Rowlands asked the Governor about his meeting with

Lord Goronwy-Roberts. The Governor said that this had been most satisfactory and that there had been complete agreement on the programme to be followed in Hong Kong. He thought that the programme would be useful here in meeting criticism of Hong Kong. Asked whether there would be opposition in Hong Kong to the measures, the Governor replied that he was quite satisfied that he could carry out the programme provided he was allowed to do it in his own order.

2. The Governor said that he intended to submit a programme on transfer payments sometime towards the end of next year. He added that transfer payments already took place on some scale in Hong Kong. At present there were detailed studies being undertaken on services to the handicapped, the old and to youth and he was anxious that these studies should be completed before proposals were submitted on other transfer payments. He wanted to see the field as a whole before making proposals.

3. Mr Rowlands asked about working conditions and whether the allegations made in the Fabian pamphlet about working hours were true. He referred to the "sweat-shop" image of Hong Kong. The Governor said that allegations about working hours made in the Fabian pamphlet were not true. Hong Kong's image could be explained by the high level productivity in the territory. The society in Hong Kong was highly competitive and this approach was reflected in the field of labour. The important point was that wages in Hong Kong were the highest in Asia outside Japan. He was aware that in labour legislation Hong Kong lagged behind her close Asian neighbours; this was the area where the. Hong Kong Government must catch up. The Governor emphasised that it was his intention to make the colony of Hong Kong a model place and to do this it was necessary to press ahead on housing, education, and health as well as the labour field. He felt, if anything, that the Planning Paper had been complacent in some of these fields, particularly health.

4. Mr Rowlands asked about the level of taxation in Hong Kong. The Governor said that the expansion of the economy provided a rapid increase of revenue. Over and above this, there had been a steady increase over the last 3 years of taxation levels of one sort or another. He thought that the programme envisaged for the next five

/years

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CONETDONUT A T

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