(134392) Dd. 737115 750M 4/70 Hw.

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

Registry No.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret.

Secret.

Confidential.

Restricted. Unclassified.

PRIVACY MARKING

In Confidence

DRAFT

Brief

To:-

Type 1 +

From

Telephone No. & Ext.

Department

Talks with Mr. Hijzen

Generalised Preferences - Hong Kong and Dependent

Territories

If a suitable opportunity arises, it might be

appropriate to reinforce what Mr. Christofas has

already said to Mr. Sigrist (Director General of

External Relations at the EEC), i.e. to emphasise

that it would be to the EEC's advantage to deal with

the Hong Kong problem through the Generalised

Preference Scheme rather than leaving it to the

enlargement negotiations.

We would like the EEC to

state, in an appropriate international forum, that

they will include Hong Kong, subject to the proviso

that a major donor such as the U.S. does likewise.

The Aide Memoire on Hong Kong submitted to the RFC

on 9 July stated that "there is good reason to

believe that if the FEC includes Hong Kong, the USA

might well agree to include Hong Kong in their scheme."

We have since been informed that the formula on the

inclusion of Hong Kong submitted to the White House

makes American inclusion conditional on its inclusion

by the EEC. A declaration to this effect by the

EEC at this point of time could therefore be the last

opportunity to obtain a firm American commitment to

do likewise.

CONFIDENTIAL

1/2.

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