CONFIDENTIAL
150520
MDHIAN 1767
SCOTLAND, AN EXPERIMENT HAD BEEEN UNDERTAKEN TO SUPPLY CLEAN NEEDLES, BUT CERTAINLY NOT DRUGS. MAHATHIR SAID MALAYSIA HAD ONLY A FEW CASES OF AIDS, BUT THINGS WERE NOT YET AS BAD AS IN AUSTRALIA OR THAILAND. LORD GLENARTHUR EXPLAINED OUR EMPHASIS ON COUNSELLING FOR ANY DRUG ADDICTS TO WHOM NEEDLES WERE SUPPLIED. MAHATHIR AGREED THAT COUNSELLING WAS THE RIGHT APPROACH, BUT MALAYSIA LACKED FUNDS AND EXPERTISE.
AIR SERVICES
13. MAHATHIR SAID HE HAD JUST ONE ISSUE TO RAISE ONE HE HAD
BROUGHT UP MANY TIMES: LANDIING RIGHTS FOR MAS. THERE HAD BEEN NO PROGRESS. BA HAD SAID THEY WOULD MAKE PROPOSALS, BUT HAD THEN PUT THE ONUS ON MAS TO MOVE FIRST. BA WERE NOT EXPLOITING FULLY THEIR CURRENT LANDING RIGHTS. BUT MAS WERE HAVING TO TURN AWAY PASSENGERS. PEOPLE WANTED DAILY FLIGHTS. BA'S PACE FOR SETTING LANDING RIGHTS WAS UNREALISTIC. THE PROBLEM WAS EXACERBATED BY SIA POACHING CUSTOMERS FROM MALAYSIA. BA ALSO REGARDED SINGAPORE AS THE REGIONAL HUB. BANGKOK WAS A SIMILAR PROBLEM. KL'S GROWTH AS AN AIRLINE CENTRE WAS BEING UNFAIRLY STUNTED. HE WANTED THIS TO BE SETTLED AT GOVERNMENT LEVEL: THINGS WERE GETTING NOWHERE WITH
BA.
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14.
LORD GLENARTHUR NOTED MAHATHIR'S POINTS. CITING MR CHANNON'S MEETING WITH LING ON 18/10, HE SAID WE UNDERSTOOD THE AIRLINES WERE STILL TALKING. THIS WAS THE RIGHT PROCESS IT WOULD BE ODD FOR GOVERNMENTS TO STEP IN. MAHATHIR REPEATED MANY OF HIS ARGUMENTS. MAS WOULD BE GETTING NEW 747S THE FIRST IN MAY. THIS AND THE PLAN TO FLY NON-STOP TO LONDON WOULD INCREASE DEMAND. THE CURRENT LIMITS WERE ALREADY HITTING MALAYSIA'S TOURIST TRADE. HE BID AGAIN FOR GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION: SHULTZ HAD FIXED SEVEN FREQUENCIES FOR MAS TO THE US IN RETURN FOR ONLY THREE.
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15. LORD GLENARTHUR SAID THAT, IF MALAYSIA FORMALLY REQUESTED GOVERNMENT TO GOVERNMENT TALKS, WE WOULD OF COURSE AGREE. BUT HE WAS BOUND TO SAY THAT SUCH TALKS COULD ACHIEVE LITTLE IN THE ABSENCE OF A COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE AIRLINES. HE UNDERTOOK TO CONSIDER MAHATHIR'S POINTS FURTHER IN LONDON. THE BLOCKAGE WAS CURIOUS. WHAT WAS NEEDED WAS A MEETING OF MINDS BY THE TWO AIRLINES. BA WAS A PRIVATE COMPANY: HMG COULD NOT INSTRUCT THEM.
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16 MAHATHIR SAID THIS HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR TWO YEARS. HE WOULD BE PREPARED TO TALK TO BA. BUT THEY WOULD NEED TO BE PREPARED TO COMPROMISE. WHEN MALAYSIA HAD DECIDED TO BUY FOKKERS,
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