Ms Majo
HKD
HKC03110 CONFIDENTIAL HKC031/10
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
/ Feb 1990
DESK OFFICEK
REGISTRY
OPEN SKIES: AREA OF APPLICATIONon Taken
1.
Reference
Tel to Hu
ру
р выгоре
We have
We discussed this briefly on the 'phone last week. now drafted a submission to Ministers on the question of what territory should be included in respect of UK (copy attached) on which I should be grateful for your and copy addressees' comments. As you will see, we have tried to reconcile our desire to maintain maximum openness in arms control terms with the need not to complicate political difficulties over certain territories. I have tried in the interests of producing a consolidated draft to reflect the factors that influence consideration of Hong Kong and other territories - please feel free to revise the sections as necessary.
2.
In addition to general comments, there are two specific questions for WED and WIAD indicated on the draft.
3.
(A)
Vopen
I should be grateful for comments by cop 22 February.
4. A brief explanation about 'Open Skies' may be helpful: Skies was promulgated by President Bush at the NATO Heads of Government Summit in May last year. it echoes an Eisenhower proposal from the 1950s-- and a 'Basic Elements' paper setting out NATO's vision of such a regime was produced at the December Foreign Ministerial. Under this, we envisage a regime between NATO and Warsaw Pact members permitting observation of each others' territory by aerial overflight on the basis of national quotas. Aircraft must be used which are capable of carrying observers from the nation being overflown. Cameras and other information-gathering equipment may be used but signals intelligence (SIGINT) will be prohibited. The framework of a regime is currently being worked out by Alliance and Warsaw Pact officials at the Open Skies Conference in Ottawa (ending on 28 February), with a view to convening a follow-up conference in Budapest in late April/early May at which we would expect to sign a treaty. Participation is currently limited to the 23 members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but several CSCE neutrals have expressed interest in joining in the future. Consideration of whether to extend beyond CSCE participants' territory is premature. A
хелий
K E Pierce
Security Policy Department K271 270 3134
22 February 1990
cc: Mr Berman, Deputy Legal Adviser
Mr Henderson, SED
Mr Penfold, WIAD
Mr Edgar, Soviet Dept
Mr Turner EAD
Mr Sawyer, Defence Dept
Ms Gallagher, FID
KP1ALW