CODE 18-77
SS 8/78
SHIPPING
SECRET 3
Reference
7.
(1)
What loss would there be to the UK if the 120
(out of a total of 1,500) Hong Kong owned ships that sail under the British flag ceased to do so?
The Chinese (again because of the sovereignty consideration) may well insist on the disappearance of the British flag in Hong Kong.
8.
In shipping terms, this may be one area where we can make a concession that loses us little and is a useful bargaining chip. Whether this is so depends obviously on the answer to the above question.
Tom Imuth
13 May 1983
TW M Smith
SECRET