ENG-1983 — Page 351

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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

dimension. In particular, in the past year the Political Adviser's office has been engaged in assisting the Governor in aspects of the negotiations over Hong Kong's future. The Political Adviser's office is also the principal point of contact on political issues between the Hong Kong Government and the representatives of foreign and Commonwealth govern- ments resident in Hong Kong.

The Political Adviser's office has helped set up a wide range of direct contacts between branches of the Hong Kong administration and their counterparts in Guangdong Province. Extensive and useful liaison now exists on such widely varying subjects as immigration, border security, environmental problems, the construction of new border crossing points, post and telecommunications, and water supplies.

As will be apparent from the sections of this chapter dealing with Hong Kong's constitutional position, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London has the formal authority to give directions to the Hong Kong Government on a wide range of subjects. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs must answer to Parliament for the actions of the Hong Kong Government and the British Government is responsible for Hong Kong's adherence to a number of international conventions and agreements which have been extended to it. But, as often happens in the British system, the relationship is one of co-operation rather than direction and the theoretical powers are not usually exercised. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office performs a very valuable role in ensuring that the rest of the Whitehall machinery is made aware of Hong Kong's interests (and these are not by any means always the same as those of the United Kingdom) in subjects for which other government departments are responsible. For example, it is always necessary to consider, when an international agreement is being negotiated or entered into by the United Kingdom, whether the validity of such an agreement should be extended to Hong Kong.

External Commercial Relations

Hong Kong has considerable latitude in the management of its external commercial relations. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the basic aim of which is to liberalise world trade and protect the most-favoured-nation principle, is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's external trade relations. The Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which aims at the orderly development and expansion of international trade in textiles, provides the framework within which Hong Kong negotiates bilateral restraint agreements with textiles importing countries.

Under GATT rules, Hong Kong, being a separate customs territory (from the United Kingdom), is treated as if it were a separate contracting party to the GATT. Hong Kong, because of its status as a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, is represented in the GATT by the United Kingdom speaking on behalf of Hong Kong. When the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the GATT was informed by Her Majesty's Government that a member of the United Kingdom delegation would continue to speak for Hong Kong. In practice, the United Kingdom spokesman in GATT meetings is invariably a Hong Kong Government official. This arrangement means that Hong Kong is able to take positions that are different from those of the EEC, and by implication, the United Kingdom.

Hong Kong Government Offices Overseas

The Hong Kong Government maintains representative offices in London, Geneva, Wash- ington, Brussels and New York. The newly-established New York Office came into operation in June 1983.