TNAG-2698-FCO40-3904-Diplomatic-representation-of-Hong-Kong-overseas-1993 — Page 27

Mr Ferguson

Eastern Department

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YKA 406/1

AUL 1993

Reference.........

File

HKETO file

IAN

RUSSIAN FAR EAST: QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION

1.

Thank you for inviting our comments on your minute of 9 July. Sorry to be discouraging, but I am afraid the Hong Kong Government would not be interested in sharing the burden of a mission in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk for the reasons set out below.

2.

Hong Kong has full autonomy in the conduct of its trade and commercial relations. The Hong Kong Government has offices in Geneva, Brussels, London, Washington, New York, San Fransisco, Toronto and Tokyo, whose main purpose is to safeguard and advance Hong Kong's economic and commercial interests overseas. Some of these offices are accredited to the British Embassy for historical reasons, but it is the intention that they should be separated before 1997 (as has already been done in the case of Brussels and Geneva). It is important that this be done to

demonstrate Hong Kong's autonomy, and also to avoid any possibility of the Chinese insisting after 1997 that Hong Kong representation overseas should be part of their embassies. Given this background, and with only a few years to go to 1997, it would not be in Hong Kong's interests to be involved in a joint mission. A further consideration is that Hong Kong's trade autonomy means that its overseas offices work for the benefit of Hong Kong, and it would not be appropriate for them to work on behalf of British business even if the costs involved were shared. On the practical level, Hong Kong's current priorities for new offices are Singapore and Sydney, and we doubt they will be interested in opening an office in the Russian Far East in the foreseeable future.

3. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC),

(HKTDC), which is a statutory body responsible for developing and promoting Hong Kong's trade, might be a more suitable organisation to represent Hong Kong's interests in the Russian Far East. The HKTDC has been deliberately constituted as an independent body so as to enable it to respond rapidly to changing market conditions. They are considering appointing a representative in Moscow

(please protect). It is for the HKTDC to decide whether or not the situation in the Russian Far East warrants a TDC

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ferg.min.ADM

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