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12 Dot Sale
CONFIDENTIAL
Des John,
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY 1 53 13 JAN19.
HICKOP/2N/3
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
HONG KONG
79
29th December 1976
20 Rocawod
Kocamed 6 Jan
Diu
You will have had my telegram
No. 1283 about a press conference I gave. I did not think it value for a summary telegram, but I enclose the transcript for the record.
I was a little shocked on my return to feel the strength of criticism and unease. You will have seen it reflected not so much in the South China Morning Post as in the Chinese press summaries. A whole lot of unrelated matters - rates assessments, labour legislation, rent increases in housing estates, assumptions of increased taxation, even a consultant's report on transport foreseeing the eventual need for punitive registration fees for private cars - all seemed to have come together and created a situation which Y.K. Kan told me he had not seen anything like for years. The opponents of labour and social reform the unholy alliance of extreme right and left with the Poujadist centre of which I have often spoken to you had worked all this up into a general charge that Hong Kong was being led to ruin by those in the UK who wanted to eliminate its competitiveness. One paper even wrote that taxes in Hong Kong would have to be increased to help pay for the UK's deficit. The announcement that was made of our goal of comparability with other Asian countries has laid us open to the charge of not acting on the Hong Kong merits of the case, and also 6 introducing labour legislation not in force in neighbouring countries. I made the announcement as you know under extreme pressure and with my eyes open as to what the consequences here would be; I have no doubt it was necessary in UK terms, but I must now pay the local price.
There were two points of real
substance behind all this silly froth. A massive increase in assessed rentable values not surprising since it was the first for 4 years
www
had not been
J.A.B. Stewart Esq., OBE
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