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from this Mission that "Hong Kong participates in its own right in the LTA" was rather loose and open to misinterpretation. What was intended was that Hong Kong in practice acts as if it were a participant in the LTA separate from the UK, chiefly in negotiating bilateral arrangements under it direct with other countries without having to refer her negotiating instructions to HMG but also on such less important matters as the provision of statistics etc. Even on the legal aspect, it is a fact that HMG explicitly accepted the LTA on behalf of the UK and on behalf of Hong Kong, and that this form of "double accept- ance" is unique in the GATT. I enclose an extract from a minute Derek Jones wrote on the subject when Dunnett's letter of 10 July to Buxton was being considered in the Mission.
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The point is that in suggesting the possibility of separate Hong Kong representation in the CTC and in the new Working Party on Textiles, if it is set up, I was certainly not putting forward a dogmatic view but only a suggestion for consideration. You say in paragraph 2 of your telegram that you would expect opposition to this. For the reasons set out above and in Jones' minute we are not sure that this would be the case; and in any event the possibility would seem to us to be worth exploring. Both Jones and I are of one mind, from our experience of the GATT, about the difficulties that would arise if significant conflicts of view within the UK delegation became apparent at any GATT meeting But the derogations given to Hong Kong on cotton textiles, and now on all textiles, have as a consequence that the strains of avoiding the expression of conflicting views become, on occasion, serious. The possibility of seeking separate representation for Hong Kong in this limited field terds, therefore, to flow logically from the granting of the derogations. I also feel that it could provide a test bed for assessing whether wider freedom could be given to Hong Kong in the GATT if and when we join the EEC.
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8. One final practical point, which I hope you will allow me to make even if it goes beyond my strict responsibilities here. It is a fairly obvious one
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/but ..
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