TNAG-1966-FCO40-2798-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-United-Nations-1989 — Page 15

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ANNEX

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Last in this list of territories, I am glad to inform the Committee that the UK Government and the Argentine Government have continued their negotiations with a view to an carly settlement of the dispute concerning the Falkland Islands, bearing in mind the interests of the population of the Terri- tory, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 2065 (XX) and the consensuses adopted by the General Assembly in 1967 and 1966. Although there are still some divergences between the two Governments regarding the conditions for a solution, it has been agreed that special talks will be held in 1970 with a view to reaching agreement on the implementation and promotion of free communications and movement in both directions between the main- land and the islands. The Secretary-General has been so informed, and both countries will continue their efforts towards a definitive settlement of the dispute.

Conclusion

I have dealt briefly with the situation regarding constitutional progress in these smaller territories. In the course of this year, one former territory under British administration has attained a full measure of self-government, and other territories have made substantial progress towards it. As I have said, the particular kind of constitutional development which is to be expected in such small territories must vary according to their individual circumstances, and will depend above all on the wishes of their people. In almost all the territories with which I have dealt-and also in others to which I have not specifically referred in this context, such as Fiji-there is active and lively discussion among the political parties, the press and public opinion of what the next stages in constitutional advance should be, and of what new status may be desired. In encouraging and responding to these moves, my Government constantly keeps before it those goals which are proclaimed in Article 73 of the Charter: to recognise that the interests of the inhabitants of the territories are paramount. to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions. There has been a progressive advance. steadily maintained, towards these goals during the current year, and, as the Committee will have seen, there is every prospect of continuing progress towards them in the course of 1970, the 25th anniversary of our Organisation, and the tenth of the declaration on decolonisation.

ANNEX XII

STATEMENT BY MR. ALAN LEE WILLIAMS, M.P. IN THE FOURTH COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 26 NOVEMBER, 1969

Decolonisation

My delegation has listened attentively to the statements made so far in this general debate by other delegations, and would like to intervene in right of reply to some of the points made in the course of the debate.

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One thing which has struck my delegation is the extent to which various. pretexts and allegations have been advanced by a number of delegations as reasons why not all non-self-governing territories have so far taken ps towards independence. A number of theories have been provided. Wave been told that the favourite excuse of the administering powers is that the peoples of the territories are not yet ready for independence, or that they are incapable of sustaining it. Others have said that the economic interests of the metropolitan power in the smaller territories prevent any real progress, presumably since the advent of independence would on this theory spell the ruin of those interests. Yet, Mr. Chairman, others have gone so far as to put forward the claim that independence has been frustrated because it would be inconvenient to have too many small states aspiring to UN membership.

I must assure the Committee that none of these pretexts has any grain of substance, or has any application as far as the remaining United Kingdom small territories are concerned. We do not use these claims and we do not need to. We have, I hope, sufficient experience of decolonisation in other former colonial areas where the United Kingdom economic stake was and indeed remains far more significant in scale than in most of our individual remaining territories, to have learned long ago the lesson that independence is perfectly synonymous with continued activity by United Kingdom enter- prises in these countries after independence on mutually acceptable and beneficial terms and with a continued contribution to their economic ex- pansion and development.

Nor do we say that peoples are incapable of supporting independence, or not yet ready for it. Of course we have our own private judgments on the prospects for economic and political viability in particular cases. So we believe, as do many other delegations also in this chamber, that there are many varying circumstances in each of the remaining United Kingdom territories which affect these judgments of viability. In some cases there are complications because of territorial claims or interests on the part of neigh- bouring countries. An obvious case in point is Hong Kong, where the main- land New Territories, though not the remainder of the territory, are held on a lease from China which expires in 1997. However. I do not dwell further on this, since I believe that my Soviet colleague and others traditionally have reservations about allowing reference to this territory.

In a number of the United Kingdom remaining territories there are limited natural resources to provide the basis for a healthy economy. You cannot create natural resources where there are none, though in a number of instances --for example, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caymans, and now, with the development of a major international airfield, the Seychelles-you may be able to create a remarkable vitalisation of an economy which only has limited agricultural or mineral possibilities, through the development of tourism.

But in the last resort, the judgment on economic and political viability is, in our view, a matter not for the administering power itself but for the peoples themselves of the colonial territories. It is they who must be the judge of their own future.

Smallness of population again is a factor which some of us might think was relevant to the question of future status. But it did not prevent the United Kingdom, once the people of Nauru with a population of some 5,000 had made

UN

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ZYTH SESSION

GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

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(1970)

ANNEX 3

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