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RECORD OF MEETING
should we send a
CALL ON MR MCLAREN BY MADAME ZHANG OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY, 20 NOVEMBER
after publication to Mme Z.
Present:
Mr McLaren
Mr Marshall (FED)
1.
Madame Zhang Youyun Madame Jiang Chunyan
Madame Zhang read a prepared statement on the question of a possible application by Taiwan for membership to GATT. She stated the Chinese position that "Taiwan, as a province of China, has no right to accede to GATT on its own and GATT should not accept the so-called accession application of the Taiwan authorities for consideration".
2.
Madame Zhang gave 3 reasons for their position:
(i) the Government of the People's Republic of China is
the sole legal Government of China, and Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. This has been affirmed by the United Nations and its various organisations, including GATT.
(ii)
(iii)
no sovereign entity belonging to a state has the right to conclude international agreements on its own unless it is permitted to do so by the central government of the sovereign state concerned.
China submitted its formal application for the resumption of its status as a contracting party to GATT in July 1986 and there should be no
interference in GATT's work on their application.
3. In summary, Madame Zhang said that Taiwan's application for accession to GATT as a separate customs territory of China could only be considered after China had resumed its status as a contracting party and with the approval of the Chinese Government. The PRC hoped that the British Government would support their position.
4.
Mr McLaren noted what Madame Zhang had said. We had seen press reports that Taiwan was intending to file a formal application but did not know when this would be. We would look closely at the matter with our Legal Advisers when the question arose.
5. Madame Zhang then turned to Hong Kong. She asked if there would be a debate on the Foreign Affairs Committee report on Hong Kong, and if it would be possible to see a copy of the Government's reply when it was published.
CH2ADP