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5
retain the right to do so and occasionally exercise
it. No third party could object if we spoke for
Hong Kong. However, it is do btful whether our
real freedom to make points at variance with EEC
policy, or even in conflict with it, would be any
greater than under (i) above - certainly it would
not if we had to clear Hong Kong à dix before
making them. Thus, unless the Community were to
be particularly cooperative, it seems that both
of the possibilities considered so far would in
effect mean the extinction of Hong Kong's voice in
the GATT.
(iii) It is theoretically possible to delegate
to Hong Kong "full autonomy in the conduct of its
external commercial relations and of the other
matters provided for in the [General] Agreement"
and so enable Hong Kong to be "deemed to be a
contracting party" upon sponsorship under Article
XXVI & 50
But it would be very difficult to recon-
cile autonomy in external commercial affairs with
the constitutional position. Further, the
reaction of China to any move by Hong Kong to
complete autonomy in exeternal commercial relation-
ships is likely to be adverse.
(iv) There is conceivably a compromise position
between de facto independence and continued,
though mute, membership of the UK Delegation. It
is that the Hong Kong spokesman in the UK Delegation
might sit behind a separate flag marked "United
Kingdom (Hong Kong)" (or possibly even just
"United/....
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