CONFIDENTIAL
FM PEKING
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO
1490
OF 150806Z NOVEMBER 93
CONFIDENTIAL
MU. € 181/3
RECE
15 NOV 1993
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, BONN
3)
054157
MDLIAN 0012
ra,
181/3
YOUR TELNO 683: HONG KONG/GERMANY ASA
SUMMARY
1.
Action taken with the German Embassy. Difficult to add to formal briefing material, but Ambassador to be briefed to raise if opportunity arises.
DETAIL
2.
I spoke to Wiesener (Minister at the German Embassy) on 13 November. I explained the background to the lack of progress on ASA's in the JLG, and said that the press notice issued in early October by the German authorities should have met the Chinese side's concerns regarding flights between Hong Kong and Taipei by German carriers. The visit of Chancellor Kohl to Peking would provide a good opportunity for the Germans to take credit with the Chinese for taking account of their concerns, and to press the Chinese now to approve the Hong Kong/Germany ASA through the JLG. Our Embassy in Bonn had not been able to discuss this with Kohl's party before their departure: would it be possible to incorporate this point into Kohl's briefing material ?
3.
Wiesener said it would be "very difficult" (i.e. impossible) to incorporate new material at this stage: Kohl's agenda was already overloaded. However, he undertook to brief his Ambassador to try and get over the key message - that the JLG should be instructed to endorse the Hong Kong/Germany ASA - discussions touched on air services.
COMMENT
if the
4. We will contact our German colleagues once the visit is over. Even if air services were not discussed by Kohl or his party, we should be able to take advantage of the undoubted improvement of German access to pursue this subject after the visit.
1
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