WHItehall 5422
CA
NET OFFICE
LONDON, S.W.1
6. July 1970
28
محمد
Rug Ry
I am writing to confirm the arrangements which we agreed this afternoon for preparation of the paper for AE about the position of Hong Kong if we joined the enlarged Community. I agreed with you and John Robinson that the best course would be for the Board of Trade to produce the first draft of this paper and that we should clear it in the first instance in WGE. The Ministerial Committee noted that officials considered that "the outlook for Hong Kong is far from rosy". They asked that these trade problems should be set in a wider context:for example, the prospects of increasing
Hong Kong's importance as an air transit and tourist centre in the Far East by giving airlines other than 30AC landing rights; the prospect of Hong Kong using her resources eg sterling balances to develop new industries and new outlets and, on the other hand, the prospect of her using her sterling balances to embarrass the United Kingdom. Briefly what Ministers would like to have is an appreciation of the economic and political. - including internal difficulties which are likely to face llong Kong if we join the Community and what, if anything, we could do to lesson these difficulties.
I am sending copies of this to John Robinson, John Slater and Ian Buist.
GR Denman Esq CMG Board of Trade
1 Victoria Street LONDON S W 1
Yama
(PE THORNTON)
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