ENG-1985 — Page 46

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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actions of the Hong Kong Government and he has authority to give directions to the Governor of Hong Kong. In practice, however, such formal directions are rarely issued, and the relationship between London and Hong Kong is essentially one of co-operation. For example, one important task routinely undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to ensure that Hong Kong's interests and views (which are not always identical with those of the United Kingdom) are properly considered within the British Government machinery, particularly when new policies are being formulated by other Whitehall departments.

Hong Kong's foreign relations are constitutionally the direct responsibility of the British Government. Thus the British Government is internationally responsible for ensuring that the Hong Kong Government fulfils its obligations under the many international conven- tions and agreements which extend to Hong Kong as well as to the United Kingdom. But in the day-to-day conduct of external affairs Hong Kong in practice now enjoys a considera- ble degree of autonomy, particularly regarding trade matters.

The Political Adviser is a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service, seconded to the Hong Kong Government to advise on the political aspects of Hong Kong's foreign relations. His office provides the principal channel of communication between the Hong Kong Government and the representatives in Hong Kong of foreign and Commonwealth Governments. Following extensive involvement in the Sino-British negotiations which culminated in the Joint Declaration, the Political Adviser's office, in conjunction with the General Duties Branch, will be closely involved in the work of implementing the Joint Declaration. The Political Adviser's office continues to offer advice, and, in some cases, to co-ordinate action on a great many more routine matters, notably in promoting the wide range of contacts between Hong Kong Government departments and their counterparts in Guangdong Province, particularly in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Close and effective cross-border co-operation has developed in such diverse areas as opening new border crossing points and transport links, and in coping with environmental pollution and flooding problems, as well as on questions concerning immigration, customs, postal services and telecommunications.

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.