NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
W(B)L 51-7406
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developing Commonwealth countries. Hong Kong is,
however, in a different position because of her
close concern with the preference scheme. It is
true that a modification of our offer on the
lines proposed would not affect the most vital
question for Hong Kong i.e. the definition of
beneficiaries. Our proposals will nevertheless
be of considerable interest to the Hong Kong
Government and we should aim to inform them as
soon as possible of what is in our mind and to
keep them in touch with future developments."
We are particularly concerned that Hong-Kong
should be kept fully in the picture and not left
to glean information through her representatives
in Western Europe.
You will be aware of her
reactions to the lack of consultation over the
textile tariff.
Although the modification of
our offer on preferences is not a comparable
issue, we still consider it most important not
to present the Hong Kong Government yet again
with a fait accompli.
Para. 33. Although we accept the thought behind
the third sentence we are not entirely happy with
the wording. "Less objectionable" could be read
as meaning "reasonably acceptable". I suggest
this might be reworded on something like the
following lines: "It is in our interest to
ensure that Hong Kong gets the best possible
share of the benefits of the preference scheme.
If her exclusion in some form or other cannot be
avoided we should aim at the least objectionable.
formula." I think it could also be useful to
make our position on self-election a little
clearer in this paragraph. It might say: "So
long as we maintain our stand on the self-
election principle we can hardly oppose the
CONFIDENTIAL