Mr Wyatt, MAED
UK/CHINA MARITIME AGREEMENT
HRE 175/2
MAVED IN
(44.9
26 APR 1979
INDEX
"
1.
In your minute of 24 April..
comments
on a draft brief which the Department of Trade want to getinto Friday's bag to Peking, for the Embassy's use in their "preliminary discussion" with the Chinese.
2. I have no wish to be obstructive, but I do not think this is the right time for us to be sending
a brief to Peking. In our Telno 226 we suggested that the Embassy should refer to the Maritime Agreement in the call (we hope) they will by now have arranged on the Chinese to discuss cargo sharing. The outcome of this will help to determine whether it is worthwhile going for a Maritime Agreement at all; before we do So, we may have to ask the Department of Trade for better reasons than those contained in Mr Pryor's reply to Mr Morland's letter of 3 April. In addition, we hope to be able to discuss the Maritime Agreement with Mr Cradock in London later this week.
A
3. In these circumstances it would be unwise and premature to send a brief to Peking now. The Department of Trade might want to send off their "brief" as a departmental background paper, for the general information of Peking and Hong Kong.
4.
On the question of the "line to take" the first two paragraphs are arrant guff (it is far from clear that a Maritime Agreement would form an "essential framework" for our bilateral shipping relations and it is certainly a matter of complete indifference to "both our people"). All the brief appears to be asking the Embassy to do is to explore with the Chinese whether a basis for discussion exists; which is what we hope the Embassy may well be doing on the call they have been arranging. If we are going to ask them to take it further at a later stage, the line to take (if we need one at all) should cover the arguments for the inclusion of Hong Kong; and (subject to HKGD's views) be up-dated to take account of the Governor's recent visit to China, and the substantial meeting of minds between himself and the Chine leadership on the Hong Kong/China relationship.
CODE 18-77
R+R
24 April 1979
CC:
J
Mr Quantrill,
ill, HKGD
Mr Masefield
26.4
26.4
кен
RC Fursland
Far Eastern Department K255
233 5539
N Williamson
ร
I have discussed
witt