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in time might bring a change in ideology. For the present, however, it was not appropriate to think of Vietnam (or Cambodia or Burma) as members.
7. Mr Yatiman acknowledged Hong Kong's support over the siting of the APEC Secretariat and wondered how the organisation was seen in Europe. Mr Goodlad said that it was regarded as positive as long as it was consistent with open trade.
Mr Hewitt added that there was plenty of
Europe was
discussion in Europe, none of it negative. intrigued about where APEC was going. Mr Yatiman acknowledged that there were lots of viewpoints on that. Singapore was clear that it should be an economic grouping; suggestions of developing a security aspect were completely
out.
Mr
8. Finally, Mr Goodlad expressed the UK's gratitude for the action Singapore had taken over the Libyan CW case. Yatiman underlined Singapore's wish to be a good member of the UN. But he very much hoped that in such cases action would be taken with the source country rather than the transit country. Only in that way could such exports be effectively curbed. It would be impossible for a major trans-shipment point like Singapore to set up a mechanism to monitor all shipments.
BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION SINGAPORE
Distribution
PS/Mr Goodlad
Mr Hewitt, SEAD, FCO Mr Ricketts, HKD, FCO
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3