AKK BAC/1 RECEIVED › REGISTRY-
- 6 JAN 1987
OFFICER
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
OCMIAN 7637
CONFIDENTIAL
RR PARIS
FM FCOLN TO PARIS
231245Z DEC
GRS 240
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO ROUTINE PARIS
TELNO 830
OF 231245Z DECEMBER 86
INFO ROUTINE HONG KONG
3/1
CONFIDENTIAL
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
7637 1
-
YOUR TELNO 1347 AND WESTON'S LETTER TO WILSON OF 19 NOVEMBER:
FRENCH VISA REQUIREMENT FOR HONG KONG BDTCS
1.
WE AND HONG KONG HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING YOUR SUGGESTION OF
HOLDING EXPERT LEVEL TALKS WITH THE FRENCH. WE HAVE CONCLUDED
THAT SUCH TALKS SHOULD TAKE PLACE, IN PARIS. THE COMPOSITION OF THE UK DELEGATION WOULD BE FLEXIBLE BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT MVD,
NTD, HKD, HOME OFFICE AND EXPERTS FROM HONG KONG WOULD BE REPRESENTED (TOTAL 6). GRATEFUL FOR YOUR VIEWS ON THE BEST
TIMING FOR THE TALKS WHICH WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO THE FRENCH.
FOR VARIOUS REASONS OUR OWN PREFERENCE IS FOR ANYTIME IN LATE
JANUARY OR FEBRUARY. ANYTHING OUTSIDE THIS 5 OR 6 WEEK 'WINDOW'
WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR US. GRATEFUL ALSO FOR YOUR VIEWS ON WHERE
TALKS WOULD LIKELY BE HELD, AND ON THE LIKELY LEVEL OF FRENCH REPRESENTATION. COULD YOU PROVIDE AN INTERPRETOR OR WOULD THE
FRENCH BE PREPARED TO USE ENGLISH ?
2.
WE WILL TELEGRAPH SEPARATELY REPLY TO QUESTION RAISED BY
FRENCH IN TUR. BUT WE HAVE NOT YET DECIDED HOW BEST TO PASS THIS
INFORMATION TO THE FRENCH. IT MAY BE BEST TO SAY WE WILL DO SO
AT THE EXPERT TALKS: THIS SHOULD PREVENT THE FRENCH TAKING ANY
ACTION TO MAKE BDTCS FORMALLY SUBJECT TO A VISA REQUIREMENT IN
1
CONFIDENTIAL