XN000022-1986-04-19 — Page 4

3

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 1986

ELABORATING ON THESE GROUNDS, MR CHAN SAID THE JOINT DECLARATION DID PROVIDE SPECIFICALLY THAT THE FUTURE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION +SHALL DECIDE ITS ECONOMIC AND TRADE POLICIES ON ITS OWN+,

IT WAS CLEARLY ENVISAGED THAT, EVEN AFTER 1997, HONG KONG WOULD' CONTINUE TO BE A TRADING ENTITY IN ITS OWN RIGHT, SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF CHINA, AND IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR ARRANGEMENTS TO BE MADE TO SATISFY COCOM MEMBER STATES THAT THEIR EXPORTS TO HONG KONG WOULD NOT BE DIVERTED WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORITY.

SECONDLY, HE SAID, THE CONTROLS MAINTAINED BY COCOM WERE AIMED ESSENTIALLY AT PREVENTING THE UNAUTHORISED TRANSFER OF STRATEGIC MATERIALS TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES. HONG KONG HAD NEVER BEEN, AND HE DID NOT THINK IT EVER WOULD BE, INTERESTED IN IMPORTING AND USING STRATEGIC MATERIALS AS SUCH.

+ IT IS OF COURSE TRUE THAT, IN THE FIELD OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN WHAT IS STRATEGIC AND WHAT ISN'T IS SOMETIMES VERY BLURRED. IT IS TRUE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT OR A COMPONENT WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING PUT TO A VAST MULTITUDE OF PERFECTLY INNOCUOUS USES MAY ALSO HAPPEN, PERHAPS QUITE COINCIDENTALLY, TO BE USABLE FOR A MILITARY PURPOSE SUCH AS TRIGGERING A NUCLEAR WEAPON.+

BUT THE FACT REMAINED THAT COCOM WAS ESSENTIALLY CONCERNED WITH THE CONTROL OF STRATEGIC MATERIALS AND NOT WITH THE DISCOURAGEMENT OF PEACEFUL APPLICATIONS OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY. IT WAS TO BE HOPED THAT THE COCOM REGIME WOULD BE REVIEWED REGULARLY, UPDATED AND STREAMLINED, AND ONE HOPES AND TRUSTS THAT GOOD SENSE WILL PREVAIL AND THAT THE CONTROL TAIL WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO WAG THE TECHNOLOGY DOG.+

THIRDLY, SAID MR CHAN, COCOM MEMBER STATES HAD IN RECENT YEARS AGREED ON A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT RELAXATIONS IN COCOM RULES INSOF AR AS THEY AFFECTED EXPORTS TO CHINA. AS CHINA'S RELATIONS WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND IN PARTICULAR WITH THE MEMBERS OF COCOM, CONTINUED TO DEVELOP AND IMPROVE, IT SEEMED LIKELY THAT COCOM MEMBER STATES WOULD CONSIDER FURTHER RELAXATION,

SUMMARISING THE MATTER, HE COMMENTED THAT 11 YEARS WAS A VERY LONG TIME IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, AND EVEN LONGER IN THE WORLD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, +NO-ONE CAN BE CERTAIN WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THAT TIME, BUT THERE SEEMS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE ACCESS WHICH HONG KONG NOW ENJOYS TO WESTERN TECHNOLOGY WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED AFTER 1997.+

/MR CHAN