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New Paragraph 10 (old paragraph 11)
Delete old paragraph 11 and substitute
Trade
10. The disruption created by a forced evacuation could be expected to prevent new trading transactions between the United Kingdom and Hong Kong in the short run. The blocking of Hong Kong accounts would, moreover,
make such new transactions difficult and unattractive, if not
impossible. It would be necessary to decide what policy to adopt in relation to imports from Hong Kong. It would not be essential to take action at once to remove Hong Kong from the Commonwealth preference
area and to impose import licensing, because goods shipped from Hong Kong take upwards of four weeks to reach the United Kingdom. it would be possible, and in the circumstances assumed it might well be desirable, to take such action at once, while providing safeguards for the import of goods belonging to evacuees and for goods already
in transit at the material time. Thereafter Hong Kong exports would
be treated on the same basis as exports from the mainland of China.
Consideration would also have to be given to the consequences for the import arrangements for cotton textiles.
Delete old paragraph 12
New Paragraph 11 (old paragraph 13)
In line 2 delete "A".
D G D G D K
But
In (1) delete "paragraphs 2 to 4 above)" and substitute "(paragraphs 1 to 3 above)".
In (2) delete" (paragraphs 5 to 8 above)" and substitute:
"(paragraphs 4 to 7 above)".
In (3) delete "(paragraph 9 above)" and substitute
"(paragraph 8 above)".
Delete (4) and substitute
"On the commercial policy front in the context of an evacuation, action
should be taken at once and in any event would probably be needed within a few weeks (paragraph 10 above)".
Delete Section B altogether.
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