TRADE 1992
CONFIDENTIAL
150520 MDHIAN 1767
5. LORD GLENARTHUR OFFERED REASSURANCE THAT, CONTRARY TO THE REPORTED FEARS OF SOME MALAYSIANS AND OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, 1992 WOULD HELP RATHER THAN HINDER FREE INTERNATIONAL TRADE. MAHATHIR SAID THAT MALAYSIA WAS NOT WORRIED ABOUT BRITISH (OR GERMAN) ATTITUDES: BUT FRANCE WAS TALKING OF CLOSING DOORS. HE HAD HAD A VERY UNSATISFACTORY CONVERSATION WITH CHEYSSON. MALAYSIA WOULD NOT
ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN MANUFACTURING IF IT DID NOT HAVE MARKETS FOR ITS FINISHED PRODUCTS. THE EC WAS VITAL. MALAYSIA COULD NOT SURVIVE ON ITS OWN DOMESTIC MARKET OR THROUGH TRADE WITH ASEAN OR THE THIRD WORLD. MR SPRECKLEY EXPLAINED THAT THE PROBLEM CONCERNED ESSENTIALLY JAPANESE PRODUCTS ASSEMBLED IN MALAYSIA: THIS TRADE WAS IN THE INTERESTS OF NEITHER THE COMMUNITY NOR MALAYSIA. MAHATHIR REGISTERED THIS, BUT EXPLAINED MALAYSIA'S DEPENDENCE ON JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP UP WITH DEVELOPMENTS IN, FOR EXAMPLE, THE MOTOR CAR AND ELECTRONICS FIELDS.
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE (VBPS)
6. LORD GLENARTHUR EXPLAINED THAT WE SHARED A SIMILAR BURDEN AND NEEDED TO KEEP IN CLOSE CONTACT. WE WERE MAKING SOME PROGRESS WITH OUR SCREENING PROCESS AND CONTACTS WITH THE VIETNAMESE. MAHATHIR DESCRIBED MALAYSIA'S OWN EXPERIENCES. IT WAS CLEAR THAT SOME VBPS COULD NOT BE RESETTLED IN THIRD COUNTRIES: THEY WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK TO VIETNAM. HE BELIEVED THE VIETNAMESE TO BE SINCERE IN THEIR WILLINGNESS TO TAKE THEM BACK. BUT ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE WAS THE KEY, WHICH MEANT THAT THE PROCESS COULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE VIETNAMESE WITHDRAWAL FROM CAMBODIA IN 1990. LORD GLENARHTUR STRESSED THAT WE WERE WILLING TO PROVIDE ONLY REPATRIATION ASSISTANCE VIA UNHCR, NOT AID TO THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT ITSELF.
CAMBODIA
7 MAHATHIR SAID THAT VIETNAMESE WITHDRAWAL WOULD LEAD TO THE PROBLEM OF THE RETURN OF THE KHMER ROUGE (KR). POL POT AND HIS CRONIES COULD NOT BE ALLOWED BACK INTO POWER. LORD GLENARTHUR ENDORSED THIS WHOLE-HEARTEDLY. MAHATHIR IDENTIFIED TWO WAYS TO TACKLE THIS: PERSUADING CHINA TO APPLY PRESSURE TO THEIR CLIENTS: AND BOOSTING THE CAPABILITY OF SIHANOUK'S FORCES AS A COUNTER- BALANCE TO THE KR. LORD GLENARTHUR RECOUNTED HIS CONTACT WITH CHINESE MINISTERS IN JUNE/JULY: THEY RECOGNISED THAT POL POT WAS UNACCEPTABLE. THIS NEEDED TO BE FOLLOWED THROUGH. WE TOO WISHED SIHANOUK WELL, AS WE HAD MADE CLEAR DURING HIS RECENT
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