TELEGRAM
IMMEDIATE
CONFIDENTIAL
TO: PEKING
Repeat Immediate Hong Kong, Singapore (for Stevens DOT)
MIPT.
Following is draft message from Stevens to Lu.
1
In the light of your recent discussions with Mr Atkinson
of the British Embassy in Peking, I am sending you this message
in order to reiterate the position of the United Kingdom concerning
CAAC services between Hong Kong and Tianjin and Nanjing. You
will recall that these services were the subject of discussion
in the course of the air services consultations in Peking during
March, and the position of the United Kingdom remains as I
described it to you then.
2 You will recall that I discussed with you the United Kingdom's
concern that services between Hong Kong and Tianjin and Nanjing
had been used to carry traffic between Hong Kong and Peking and
Shanghai. In the light of this concern, I informed you of our
intention to vary CAAC's permits so as to make clear that traffic
travelling directly to Shanghai and Peking should not be carried
on the services to Nanjing and Tianjin. This variation was made
shortly afterwards: its purpose was to ensure that CAAC operated
in conformity with the arrangements agreed between our two
Governments concerning air services. As stated in the British
Embassy's letter of 30 April, CAAC has been operating in breach
of these new conditions in the operating permit by carrying
traffic through to Shanghai and Peking on immediately connecting
services. This practice infringes the conditions of the
operating permit which serves to give effect to the provisions for
the regulation of capacity on services between Hong Kong and
NR