*
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
9
From the Secretary of State
FET
RECEIVED
DESK
INDEX
022/2
STRY
3 July, 1989
13 JUL 1989
PA
Action Texen
Jean Sir James,
Oce, M. Mchoren
ихавир
☺ M
an
pa with
Taman fidu
им
ich Hall
CA
2/7
I understand that you have been in touch with Anthony Teasdale about the application by the Taiwanese Governing Party to join the Pacific Democratic Union and, through it, the IDU, which will be debated at the meeting of the IDU Executive Committee in Vancouver next week.
I am grateful to you for consulting us about this sensitive issue. I must say that I am not convinced that it would be desirable for the Kuomintang (KMT) to be admitted to the IDU. As you know, the Government do not regard the nationalist authorities in Taiwan as a government and have not done so since 1950 when we ceased to recognise them as the Government of China. Our position is shared by the overwhelming majority of other governments including all our major allies and our EC partners. Even so, and as you know, we have not allowed this formal view to stand in the way of practical commercial and unofficial contacts with Taiwan. But we have taken care to avoid any contacts or actions which would have the effect of conferring recognition on the Taiwanese authorities. There is, of course, good reason for this in the light of the desirability of striking the right balance in our relations with the People's Republic of China.
Sir James Spicer Kt