TNAG-1388-FCO40-1859-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Sino-British-Joint-Declaration-1985 — Page 294

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mocratic institutions and processes will be infiltrated intimidated the leaders are O.K. but middle ranking officials will not keep their hands off Hong Kong Chinese have a contempt for foreigners the Draft Agreement is not a treaty and has no provision for amendment therefore there is nothing to be gained by saying anything I fear standards will fall resulting in instability and prosperity disappearing I expect my department to savagely rid itself of expatriates all under the misguided idea that this is the proper policy expatriate civil servants on agreement are being given a rough deal as far as continuity of employment is concerned - expatriates will be eliminated on the grounds of incompetence in Chinese it is a bad principle that agreement staff should be here for long periods without some obligation on the HK Government's part localisation policy affects us more than the Draft Agreement everyone with 7 years' service should be regarded as permanent employees either pensionable or with gratuity in lieu of pension, all these officers should be on same leave housing and allowance rates, after this the right of abode would be achieved the Draft Agreement gives the opportunity for the Chinese Government to interfere before 1997, I believe it will

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expatriates should not have a say, Hong Kong is not their home, China announced what it wanted and has got what it wanted - the new regime will have its own advisers and administrators to place in positions of authority, we must look for new employers - It's been a sell out, HMG must guarantee pensions earned prior to 1997 – I am on agreement but a former HMOCS pensioner from another territory, that territory asked why it should have to pay the pensions of officers who had worked for its predecessors and then declined to pay, HMG finally took up payment after much argument – expatriates will be least wanted after 1997 and least wanted of these will be Administrative officers and Executive Officers if expatriates are unhappy with the prospects after 1997 they should quit now and try the real world the private

The Hon. Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, KBE, CMG, J.P. Chief Secretary,

Government Secretariat,

Central Government Offices,

Main Wing,

Lower Albert Road,

Hong Kong.

Sir,

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sector in HK or Britain I suggest adopting a wait and see attitude, there will be opportunities for expatriate civil servants in the HK SAR although not to the highest echelons the Pacific rim is a growth area, Hong Kong's position is excellent there is every chance of it remaining prosperous Chinese language ability will be very important this questionnaire is well intended but futile how many times is the word 'may' used in the agreement Le Charade the Chinese will change their minds the Draft Agreement will be interpreted using Chinese logic not western logic the best advice to expatriates is have you bags packed and be ready to move out after mid 1997.

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AGREEMENT OFFICERS – NO AGE GIVEN

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use

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There are no career prospects for expatriates in the Hong Kong Civil Service AECS is a big mouth paper tiger, simple problems cannot be resolved so we do not expect AECS to do more than scream and shout the next 13 years to get flexibility in passages and permission to combine leave we are in the lap of the gods which is unpleasant and causes concern the questionnaire is biased towards permanent and pensionable officers but this is understandable agreement officers want is annual leave and better conditions of service Whitehall should be asked to give a guarantee of continuity of domicility rights for UK citizens after 1997 - a civil service with an international outlook is vitally important for a future HK expatriates may play a minor but significant role, they should be promoted as high as their ability will take them - you must be joking, what the hell have you ever done for contract officers based on your past performance with the HK Government what do you think you will achieve with Whitehall and Beijing stop kidding yourselves expatriate civil servants need not be frightened of 1997 the crucial test is not the Draft Agreement but the contents of the Basic Law, until that is known it is idle to speculate on matters 12 years hence.

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As promised at your lunch on 18th October and further to our meeting with the Secretary for the Civil Service on 29th October 1984, I write to give you the general response of this Association's members to the Draft Agreement and make you aware of some anxieties arising.

We discussed at the meeting with Mr. Rowlands the response of this Association's members to the Draft Agreement as shown by our recently conducted opinion survey. Numerical summary details of the survey results were passed to him. He outlined some preliminary thoughts on what the future arrangements for expatriate civil servants affected by 1997 would be.

7th November 1984

Judging by the results of the opinion survey we conclude as follows:-

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The overwhelming majority of our members feel that on balance the Draft Agreement on the future of Hong Kong should be accepted, there being no choice.

There are doubts as to the sincerity of China to implement its declared basic policies on the future of Hong Kong. It is accepted that only time will test the true intentions of China.

There is a demand by our members for explicit clarification in detail of the references in the Draft

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