PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL
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2
E.E.C. were already fully committed to granting beneficiary status to members of U.N.C.T.A.D. and therefore including South Korea and Singapore and that he was quite sure that the E.E.C. were also specifically committed to including Taiwan.
I now enclose for your information an extract from a letter written by Hannay to Pat Dodge in Brussels in response to a query which Dodge raised with Hannay at my request follow- ing the meeting with Anthony Royle. Quite obviously not only did Hannay mislead me but also you and Anthony Royle unintentionally, of course. In many ways this is regrettable but my purpose in raising the matter now is not to complain, but to point out that the position of Taiwan vis-à-vis the E.E.C. remains unresolved and presumably therefore subject to influence. Mr. Rippon, in accepting the E.E.C. offer on Hong Kong, stated the British Government's determination to ensure that Hong Kong should not be discriminated in matters of trade. We were most grateful for this assurance and I hope that the opportunity will be taken in the near future to lobby the Six accordingly.
From information received locally, it would also seem that not only have the E.E.C. not yet decided on Taiwan, but also that they have yet to decide when the Scheme will come into operation and more particularly the "scope" of the Community's G.P.S. offer, including beneficiaries. It is our understanding that these matters will be discussed at the Council of Ministers scheduled for 30th March. Here again I hope that the Hong Kong case would be made wherever practicable, and at suitable levels, between now and the date of the meeting.
London.
Once again, my thanks for your valuable assistance in
Your
Jack
E.O. Laird, Esq., CMG, MBE,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hong Kong Department,
London S.W.1.,
England.
Enc.
(J. Cater)
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