(134392) DJ. 73715 750 4,70 Hw.
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
{
Registry No.
"URITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential,
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT
To: Dr. C. W. Chuang,
President,
The Chinese Manufacturera Association of Hong Kong, C.M. A. Building,
64-65, Connaught Road, C, Hong Kong.
Type 1 +
From
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
Thank you for your letter of 11 September in
which you expressed, on behalf of your Association,
concern about the possible effect on Hong Kong of
our entry into the European Communities. I welcome
this opportunity to reply to some points you mised.
As a dependent territory of the United Kingdom,
Hong Kong is eligible for association with the
enlarged Communities under Part IV of the Treaty
of Rome. However, as you are no doubt aware,
the present Community indicated their unwillingness
during the 1961-3 negotiations to agree to her
being associated in this way. This has not
deterred us during this round of negotiations
from once again asking for association for Hong
Kong under Part IV. But you will appreciate that
the agreement of both sides is necessary for
successful negotiations.
17.
Your letter suggests to me that you are none
too optimistic about the prospects of this. The
British Government also has been considering the
question of how to provide for Hong Kong's interests
in the event of HK association being denied her.
We take the view that our main objective should
be to prevent discrimination against Hong Kong in European markets to the advantage of her trading
Because of this we have been active in
rivals.