CONFIDENTIAL
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN.
position vis-à-vis the EEC on Codel tel. no. 229. With
regard to paragraph 3 (I) (complete exclusion of Hong
Kong on all textiles and shoes), the Governor listed
three possibilities:
(i) that the UK should urge the EEC to exclude
textiles and shoes entirely from their offe
(ii)
(iii)
that the exclusion of Hong Kong's close
competitors (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore)
should be urged
that at worst, Hong Kong should be excluded
item by item on the basis of performance,
and that subject to this, there should be
regular reviews to assess possible damage
and consider remedies.
Hong Kong strongly favoured course (i) above.
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3. Mr. Lam made it clear that the UK exclusion of
textiles put us in no position to influence the EFC in
this matter, and that in any cage, we wished the Com-
munity to maintain even their limited offer on textiles
which were of benefit to other Commonwealth countries.
On (ii), the Governor stated that inclusion of her main
rivals by the EEC on textiles and footwear would be
discrimination against Hong Kong. This was not denied
in the course of general discussion, which established
novertheless that,
(a)
there was little evidence, despite Dr.
Dahrendorf's comments in Hong Kong, that the
EFC were considering the exclusion of South
Korea and Taiwan,
(b) UK pressure on the EEC for such a step would
prove embarrassing in UNCTAD even though the
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which had not adoptés HEEL like of offer was
in. I weak pot
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