CONFIDENTIAL
individuals
like
certainly funded by
and organisations with close
connections with the PRC. They are rumoured to have powerful
supporters in Peking and rivalry between CAAC, who would
CPA to be the only Hong Kong carrier into China, and
Dragonair's supporters could have been one of the reasons for
the unsatisfactory conclusion to the first round of Air Service
talks. Dragonair would like to operate scheduled services
between Hong Kong and China but cannot be designated to do so
as British airline because they do not meet the requirement in the existing Sino-British ASA of being substantially owned
and effectively controlled by British nationals.
Unscrambling Air Services Agreements
5.
The Civil Aviation section of the Hong Kong Agreement
provides for the Government of
of the People's Republic of China
after 1997 to delegate to the SAR Government the right to renew
ог amend existing ASAS and negotiate new ASAs involving
services to and from Hong Kong. As part of the preparations
for 1997 we need to unscramble about 20 ASAs between the UK and
other
countries which cover services between those countries and
Hong Kong in such a way that services to and from Hong Kong appear in new agreements separate from those involving services to and from the UK. For sovereignty reasons the Chinese would
not accept, after 1997, that Hong Kong should operate services deriving from agreements signed by the UK. We have started talks with the Australians to this end. Australia was chosen
as the first candidate for these negotiations because of
helpful support which they have given at a political level the Joint Declaration and because the ASA in question is a
relatively simple one to "unscramble".
6.
have
the
to
The Australians have however indicated that they are nervous about signing an agreement with Hong Kong unless they
this. to objection no
or they should approach the Chinese
We have sought to
the
can be certain that the Chinese
They have proposed that we
to check this
point.
CONFIDENTIAL
reassure