TNAG-0576-FCO40-709-Visits-of-UK-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 61

382

CONFIDENTIAL.

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Mr Male

Mr Hunter (PSD)

HONG KONG: PROPOSED DUTY VISIT BY MR DAVID

1. I should be grateful for financial authority for Mr T J David, one of the two desk officers in my department, to visit Hong Kong for about a fortnight within the next three months.

2. This summer, Ministers approved a Planning Paper on Hong Kong which provides for an extensive new programme of social and labour measures to be carried out in the Colony. The implementation of this programme, again with ministerial approval, is to be "monitored" by Hong Kong Department, with the assistance of specialist advisers in the Office. It has been agreed between ourselves and the Hong Kong Government that if this monitoring process is to be made effective there will need to be much closer communications between the two sides, including an increased programme of visits by officials in both directions. I am myself about to leave for Hong Kong, with your department's authority, for the first such visit under this programme. It is also important, however, that the other members of my department should visit Hong Kong regularly and Lord Goronwy-Roberts has recently approved a submission which provided in part for "at least one visit a year by each of the desk officers concerned with Hong Kong"

3. Apart from these particular considerations which arise with regard to Hong Kong, I believe that it has become the practice for officers serving in departments responsible for dependent territories to visit their parishes more frequently than do their colleagues in other geographical departments. The reason, as you will appreciate, is that HMG's direct responsibilities for dependent territories require that the officers concerned should be more fully briefed on their affairs than is necessary with independent countries. In the case of Hong Kong, for example, we do not have the flow of information and comment on the workings of the local government which is expected from a Chancery in a post in an independent country. Apart from the fact that Hong Kong, by virtue of its population and economic resources is, by general admission, more important than any of our other remaining dependent territories, it attracts a good deal of political attention in this country. The members of Hong Kong Department therefore need to be thoroughly familiar with the territory's affairs in order to provide informed advice to Ministers.

4. I should add that Mr Morgan, who is inspented the department in May, anderged the view that a more intimate working relationship between Hong Kong Government officials below the level of Governor and the Hong Kong Department, such as is now envisaged in the Planning Paper, could only be achieved if departmental officers at all levels could visit the territory from time to time. The Inspector went on

CONFIDENTIAL