TNAG-0341-FCO40-377-Effects-on-Hong-Kong-of-long-term-policy-for-textiles-in-int-1972 — Page 76

G.F. 323

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countries (e.g.

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first, the U.K. interest, secondly, relations with other

China) and thirdly, acceptability to the

Contracting Parties. The D.T.I. representatives suggested

that to these ought to be added another, viz. fourthly,

what the enlarged E.E.C. would permit (!).

49.

There was considerable discussion on this last

point. I maintained that Hong Kong's interests centred on

two aspects:

(1) Hong Kong must not find itself in a non-

G.A.T.T. relationship with the enlarged

E.E.C., whatever was the position so far

as the U.K. was concerned. In the

absence of a G.A.T.T. relationship with

the enlarged E.E.C., there would be

potentially dangerous possibilities of

the E.E.C. in effect controlling Hong Kong's

external commercial policy through the

U.K. and without Hong Kong having any

effective means of defence in international

forums;

(11) so long as Member States remained

separate contracting parties, I could

see no necessary difficulty in Hong Kong's

views being expressed from the U.K.

delegation. The currently developing

practice in G.A.T.T. and the C.T.C. is

for an E.E.C. spokesman flanked by the

/ representatives of

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