Council's serious consideration, although a decision to initiate procedures leading to termination was a matter for the Administering Authority. If and when the Administering Authority decided to request termination, his delegation would take full account of all that had been said by the representatives of the the Trust Territory Governments. 135. The United Kinqdom delegation welcomed the practice of hearing petitioners, which it believed followed the best traditions of free and frank debate. It would bear in mind the points the petitioners had made when considering its conclusions and recommendations. However, it could not accept the implicit assumption that economic and political problems in Micronesia were the exclusive responsibility of the United States. Many petitions failed to acknowledge the role Of the elected I Governments in Micronesia, which governed on the basis of constitutions approved in t plebiscites observed by United Nations missions. Others came close to suggesting that the compacts of free association had been foisted on innocent and unsuspecting Micronesians who were incapable of taking decisions about their own fUtUCe, as a means of tying the Territory to the strategic interests of the United States. They studiously ignored that the compacts had been negotiated over a 15-year period and had' been the subject of 23 hearings in the United States Congress, which had been lobbied continuously by Micronesian representatives. 136. The United Kingdom representative stressed that the gradual devolution of political and administrative power to the Territory was entirely in accordance with I article 6 of the Trusteeship Aqreement, which in turn mirrored Article 76 k of the Charter of the United Nations. -19- 137. There was no evidence that the Administering,Authcrity had fOXYXd the Trust Territory to conform to a preconceived model of political dependence. On the contrary, the territorial Governments had clearly played a major, if not a 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the political governance and relationship between the United States and Micronesia, specifically the role of the United States as the Administering Authority and the devolution of power to the territorial governments. The text also touches on the negotiation and approval of compacts of free association. These themes suggest that the category should be related to politics and governance.

**Category**
International relations, Education