TNAG-1150-FCO40-1430-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-European-Community-1982 — Page 68

4.

5.

we do not object to its inclusion in the list;

but we

would like there to be some indication, perhaps in a footnote,

of the territory's constitutional status.

The second problem concerns the nature of UK representation

in Hong Kong. The reference to the UK as one of the member

states with diplomatic representation in Hong Kong givesa

misleading impression of the function of the senior representative

of the UK Government in Hong Kong, the British Trade Commissioner

(who is of course quite separate from the Government of Hong

Kong, headed by the Governor) For consitutional reasons the

only functions which the British Trade Commissioner is allowed

to perform are those of pure trade promotion; he is not

allowed to engage in commercial diplomatic activity with the

Hong Kong Government, nor to prepare economic reports etc.

So he cannot participate fully in the preparation of EC

Commercial Counsellors' reports etc. It would be most

helpful if in the list of member states' representation in Hong

Kong, the limitation of the functions of the British Trade

Commissioner could be made clear.

I hope that you will be able to arrange that future

editions of the list of member states' representation in third

countries could draw attention, perhaps in footnotes, both

to the constitutional status of Hong Kong and to the limited

functions of the British Trade Commissioner. This will help

to avoid the risk of misunderstanding on the part of readers.