TNAG-2396-FCO40-3483-Hong-Kong-Civil-Service-policy-1992 — Page 10

CODE 18-77

Mr Ricketts

HKA, C16/1

CONFIDENTIAL

Reference.

Mass willeon's

Mr Stone 117

Thanks. Interesting

PACE OF LOCALISATION

1.

44.

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pa. Civil

Service general

On a copy of Mr Hum's minute of 29 June recording impressions in a few key areas following his visit to Hong Kong, you asked whether it was true that the provisions for providing compensation to expatriates pas over for promotion have never been used.

2.

As far as I am aware, this is correct. Administrative Officers now are forced to retire at 57 (instead of 60). HKG have calculated that, using this mild form of localisation, they should be able to have enough locals in place by 1997 to meet the provisions in the Joint Declaration/Basic Law. There will still be large numbers of expat AO's at the staff grade B/B1 level.

3.

As for the police, the Hong Kong Government's aim is that by 1995 there should be a local Commissionerof Police and at least one local Deputy Commissioner. Further, by the year 2000, the proportion of local officers in the gazetted ranks (ie Superintendent of Police and above) should be higher than the proportion of overseas officers.

4. I think two main points need to be made on this subject;

1) Unless the pace of localisation is really hotted up, it is quite easy for HKG to maintain the fiction that all promotion is on merit. An officer would be quite hard pressed to demonstrate for certain that he had been passed over he had been having consistently very good reports. On this basis, the number of "passing over's" will be small.

-

unless

2) HKG has no idea which local officers will stay post-1997. Is it really worth-while accelerating locals up the tree only to find that when they reach 45 or 50 they retire?

5. The two points above are one reason why I think we should start talking to the Chinese soon about principle officials. We will then have a better idea of what to do with the

expatriate rump.

мля

Mich oftare.

M V Stone

Hong Kong Department

WH 304 270 2651

30 June 1992

38

MVSAHB

SLM

CONFIDENTIAL