TNAG-2689-FCO40-3891-Hong-Kong-Her-Majesty-s-Overseas-Civil-Service-(HMOCS)-poli-1993 — Page 138

HKA 233/

THE ASSOCIATION OF MEMBERS OF HER MAJESTYST 1993

OVERSEAS CIVIL SERVICE IN HONG KONG

31st Floor Revenue Tower

DESI

5 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

24f

Mr Man's

Man, 2919

fi.

h

1 Whitton-ph

21 September 1993

M

Ritults,

KKD

The Rt. Hon. A. Goodlad, MP

Minister of State

Foreign and Commonwealth office

King Charles Street

London SW1A 2AH

United Kingdom

Dear Mr Goodled,

The Association was

letter of

members in issue, and

EC. PSIM Goodied

Ми ниш

Draft reply by 1 October

Please.

6.5. Derey

PS I M Cordead

pleased to learn from your 29 June 1993 that matters of concern to HMOCS Hong Kong were being dealt with as a priority that an

announcement would be made as soon as Whilst we hope that this is still the case, we cannot help but be concerned at the continuing silence from HMG on this subject. This concern is heightened by certain recent developments in Hong Kong.

possible.

The current dispute over the dilution of the localisation policy applying to overseas contract officers, and the retention in special circumstances overseas of the former Secretary for the Civil Service and the present Chief Secretary, have raised questions about the commitment of HMG and the Hong Kong Government to the timely implementation of the localisation that will be necessary to meet the terms of the Joint Declaration. The instances of other territories where localisation was delayed too long and carried out with unseemly haste at the last minute are well known to members of the Association, particularly to

those with first hand experience. There has surely been ample time to plan to avoid this in Hong Kong's case but those likely to be affected, both local and expatriate, are still in the dark as to their futures. Meanwhile the opportunity to seize the political high ground by taking the initiative in this area is being lost. The adverse publicity which all

this has generated increasingly presents expatriate officers as self-serving and opposed to localisation. Nothing could be further from the truth or more damaging to the morale of HMOCS officers in what is already going to be a very difficult period in which they will play a critical role. Clearly it would be desirable to avoid adding to those difficulties unnecessarily.

29/9.