CONFIDENT I AL
Y ON SALE OF DEFENCE RELATED EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY TO TAIWAN DRAFT GUIDELINES
I
General Position
We recognise the Chinese People's Government as the sole legal Government of China and have stated in public that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair to be settled by the Chinese people themselves. China's aim is the eventual reunification of Taiwan with the mainland. Arms sales to Taiwan by third parties are regarded by Peking as an unfriendly act contributing to the continuation of Taiwan's separation from the PRC and therefore as interference in China's internal
affairs.
our own
vi ew
We cannot ignore this firm Chinese position nor position agreed with China in 1972. We must proceed with circumspection if we are to permit any military or para-military equipment sales to Taiwan. Nevertheless, in of other countries' readiness contemplate some relaxation in this area, we can very slightly amend our existing guidelines to accommodate the possibility of using a third country route in certain carefully defined circumstances.
to
Our position must at the same time be consistent with our international obligations recently entered into on increased transparency of arms sales and on reducing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of arms sales into areas of tension. The Taiwan Strait remains an area of tension, if quiescent at present. We must in particular take careful account of the P5 guidelines agreed in October 1991 which inter alia oblige each of the P5 to avoid arms sales which interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states. The Chinese would undoubtedly consider that any arms sales to Taiwan would fall foul of this criterion. We would need to argue that any
interfere with China's internal
equipment we sold did not
affairs.
CONFIDENTIAL