TNAG-0571-FCO40-704-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 48

Flags A B & C

1961

Mr Cortazzi

PS/PUS

"Pus.

CONFIDENTIAL

HONG KONG: VISIT BY THE GOVERNOR, 19-24 JULY

1.

Mr O'effe Tunk you. Як

I do not expect this; but it is just possible that the vi

Governor may wish to complain about some of the observations in the original Planning Paper, or about the handling of the Paper

through its various stages. I certainly hope he will not; but a number of recent visitors from Hong Kong, including the Colonial Secretary, have observed that the Paper came as a

shock to the Governor and that it took him a week or two to

recover his habitual poise. Some aspects of his concern are explained, in muted terms, in his letters of 22 May and 2 July

to Mr Cortazzi and in his letter of 1 June to me.

2. I suggest the following points might be made if he should raise this subject:

88

Content

i) A Planning Paper was inevitable once the then Secretary of State had decided to visit Hong Kong during his projected Far Eastern tour. In any case, it was our judgement that it was time to look at our overall long-term policy towards the last

remaining Colony of any size.

ii) In the nature of the case, it was necessary to look at relations with the Colony over a much longer time-scale than the present Governor's own period of office; and nothing in the Paper was meant to imply any criticism of his own leadership or administration. It was true that in certain fields, notably labour legislation, we felt that inadequate attention had been paid to matters on which any Secretary of State would regard as particularly important. There was also some doubt here whether fiscal strategy was adequately geared to provide certain essentials of an urban industrial society, notably a more adequate system of transfer payments. But overall, the Paper argued that it was a favourable time to look into these matters now that the Governor had given the necessary impetus to, and leadership

for, reform.

CONFIDENTIAL