ex
Sleg: Well it has been a long-standing apprehension of course of the Theis that the infiltration in the North of Thailand could becono a great deal more serious as the years go by. So again one will have the opportunity of talking
ཧཱུྃ་.
about this, Of course the Americans give Thailand a great deal of military help and assistance. I remember talding part in the 1962 Goneve conferenca
end the aim there was of course the noutrality of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia
and thio would have ectod as a shield to Thailand.
She is more exposed as
long as this war goes on. I think we would hope and I think the Thais would hope too, that this conception of non-alignment of these three countries would be re-established. This would of course give Thailand the greatest security
she could get.
Certainly again, one will be talking about the security
problem with the Thai ministers.
1
Quastion: Do you see any possible hope in the fact that the North VietnamÉJO have not in any formal sense rejected the latest proposals by President Nixon
for a negotiat od!
·
settlement of the Vietnam var?
This war could go
'Sir Alec: One must always hope in these circumstances.
on endlessly unless there is a negotiated settlement. The latest US proposals were very positive, well defined; no doubt the North Vietnamese will take song time to give a considered view upon them. Their tendency is to reject them.
Nevertheless I would have thought that the American proposals deserve a very
careful consideration and they would be strongly in the interests of the poopla
of South East Asia as a whole.
Question: Moving on to your next port of call, Hong Kong, Foreign Secretary,
posed at present between Hong Kong and Britain relates
One of the issuer
I beleive to textiles and the problem of Hong Kong not getting what it hoped
i.e. a quota free market here in Tagland as it envisaged.
on this point to Hong Kong when you go there?
}
Can you take any comfort
Siz Alag: I will obviously be talking to people in Hong Kong about this and with the government and councils. They are very concerned to feintain of compue
་
their income from textiles and I will look forward to hearing their point of
View. I think Hong Kong is one of the most miraculous achievedents of man
and their wealth and the way they apply it is really quite extraordinary.