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(b)
living standards of its inhabitants, unless
mention were also made of the need to protect industry in the Community from damage resulting
from imports of all kinds from Hong Kong. There is thus a likelihood that, by raising the question of a declaration at all, we should
prompt the very damand for protection of
Community producers which it is the whole aim
of the "no special arrangements" gambit to
avoid. The more explicit a declaration was in
addressing itself to the problems of Hong Kong,
the greater this likelihood would be; on the other hand, the more generalised it was, the less likely the Six would be to agree to its
being made.
If we were to propose a declaration, should we
aim for a unilateral one by the United Kingdom or a joint one by all Members of an enlarged Community?
Hong Kong officials did not at any stage suggest the possibility of a joint declaration by all Members of the enlarged Community. Nevertheless, if there is to be a declaration of any kind, this
is something which should be considered.
Obviously, if we could obtain some kind of
acceptance by the Member countries of the enlarged
Community of a degree of responsibility for
helping to solve the problems of our Dependent Territories, and particularly Hong Kong, this would be more advantageous than the mere tacit
acceptance by them of a unilateral declaration on our part about our own continuing responsibilities. On the other hand, the more responsibility we try to thrust on the Six, the more likely they are to
bject to the whole concept of a declaration.
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