Reference
Air Services to China
6. The tone of the discussion on this was encouraging. The Chinese will be ready to open negotiations in about two months, and
they said they expected speedy agreement on details because there was clearly full accord on points of principle. To the Minister's carefully-worded question "whether the UK proposals raised any general questions of a political nature" they gave a negative reply. However, they made it clear that they would insist on a single designated UK carrier flying into China; and there remains the possibility that they will interpret this as precluding Cathay
cific from continuing to operate into Taiwan.
Air Services to Hong Kong
7. In spite of strong pressure from the Hong Kong Government, the Minister continued to insist that if SAS wanted to operate into Hong Kong they must offer a quid pro quo to BOAC. He suggested that the Hong Kong Government should urge SAS to do so.
Hong Kong Shipping Register
8. The Hong Kong shipowners argued considerably more effectively on this than officials of the Hong Kong Government. Their main points were, first, that there was a genuine and serious shortage of qualified officers of British nationality. Secondly, the Chinese officers they wished to employ instead, though holders of Taiwanese certificates, were residents of Hong Kong. They proposed to require seven years' residence in Hong Kong as a condition of employment as an officer on a ship registered there. Thirdly, the Taiwanese examinations were stringent. They were preferred not because the standards were lower but because they could be taken in the Chinese language. One of the shipowners suggested that Hong Kong should hold its own examinations (presumably in Chinese). It was agreed that the Governor would make a formal response to the Draft Consultative Document, and that the Minister would consider the arguments put forward at the meetings.
Jame
A/J LANE
P3/Minister for Aerospace & Shipping R 717 Ext 2145 1.V/9
April 1973..
3 A