responsibility.
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We should look for ways of reducing
the share of resources and Ministerial attention which
The ideal would be a reduced range of they now claim. commitments combined with a better capability to meet them, ie a better match between contemporary British responsibilities and contemporary British power.
C
13. In a class by itself in importance is Hong Kong.
The Prime Minister's visit to China a year ago concluded with a joint statement in which both sides expressed the common aim of maintaining the stability
We have made it clear and prosperity of Hong Kong.
that our aim is to reach an agreement that is
acceptable to Parliament, the Chinese Government, and the people of Hong Kong. The signs are that this will need to be achieved in 1983/4, with consequential action continuing at a lower pitch right through the
five year period.
}
14.
Gibraltar is a problem requiring "treatment" rather than solution, given the incompatible starting
Such a treatment must positions of the parties.
respect the British commitment to Gibraltar, but not obstruct the process of Spanish entry into the Western democratic system in the shape of the European
Community and the integrated military structure of the
North Atlantic Alliance.
The crucial period will be
from now until whenever the Spanish referendum is held
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