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4. We therefore think it politically desirable, as well as procedurally more correct for the Vietnamese proposal to be handled multilaterally within ICAO. seen from here, a very suitable forum would be the Regional Air Navigation Meeting due to be held in Singapore from 11 - 29 January 1983.
One aim would be to avoid a repetition of events in 1978/79 when the Amber One Airway was reopened as a result of an agreement which did not include the Chinese, and the Chinese subsequently declared a number of danger areas which had the effect of making Amber One unusable for long periods of the day.
5. The procedural suggestion in paragraph 4 above is very much subject to the views of the experts in the DOT and FCO. If they agree with it, the next step would presumably be to discuss the matter with the other interested governments before any substantive reply is given to the Vietnamese. In the meantime, if the Vietnamese raise the question with you again, I suggest you say that you have reported their approach and are awaiting instructions on how to reply.
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I am copying this correspondence to the Embassy in Peking, who may wish to comment.
Your ever,
Room
cc C W Roberts Esq
CAIR, DOT
CM J Segar Esq SEAD, FCO
M W Atkinson Esq MBE PEKING
Chanceries: Bangkok
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
(R J T McLaren)
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