TNAG-1402-FCO40-1874-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continued-participation-in-the-General-A-1985 — Page 210

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to local ministers, to full independence; and in this progress, external relations have been amongst the last powers to be retained

by the Governor as representing the Crown in right of the United

Kingdom.

8. There is no prospect of being able to deal with the problem by constitutional change in Hong Kong: for reasons well known to Ministers that is subject to other constraints, and will take place

in slower time.

9. Another possible approach might be to recognise the practice which has grown up of allowing Hong Kong to conduct its external

commercial relations as a constitutional convention similar to

(though more extensive than) those which facilitated the development of dominion self rule before 1926. The difficulties here are that

by recognising that practice had advanced to the status of a constitutional convention in one area, it might be difficult to distinguish similar practices in others, and, it might well be argued, would inhibit our ability to legislate by way of Letters

Patent or Royal Instructions. Further such a course would have the

particular effect of modifying by constitutional convention the

relationship of the Governor with the Crown. The earlier colonial

conventions grew up in respect of self-governing colonies. There

must be some chance that in the next 12 years Ministers will need to use their residual powers and it would not be sensible now to adopt a doctrine which would have the effect of diluting them.

10. A less hazardous constitutional course would be to attempt to build up a case for equating practice (both in the internal machine and externally) with autonomy. The practice could be reinforced by issuing a formal instrument of instrument of extrustment to the Governor giving him sole responsibility for conducting policy in the fields concerned. Although we would not use the whole argument in any formal communication to any relevant international body where

we would confine ourselves to the formula used in the relevant

international instrument it would need to be elaborated in such a

way as to be usable publicly. The argument would run that it had

long been HMG's policy that Hong Kong should conduct its own

external commercial affairs; the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary

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