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take on Chinese textiles and allegations of dumping have not been helpful but there is little he can do about this. He expects Lord Nelson to go to China in the spring wearing both his SBTC and GEC hats. Mr Roberts believes that such a visit could be useful. It would be interesting to see who succeeds Mr Peng as Commercial Counsellor in the Chinese Embassy here.
(a) Hong Kong
Mr Roberts thought that at last the Hong Kong Government had accepted the need to help to improve the climate for British exports to Hong Kong. He hoped to send a mincipal to a meeting with the Hong Kong Government on the climate of imports from Britain early next year. We both agreed that it was desirable to bring the Senior British Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong back at least once during each tour. Mr Kinnear should either come back just before the summer or just after depending on how long he was going to stay in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Trade Advisory Group would have no difficulty in arranging a suitable programme. If necessary the Department of Trade could meet the costs. I should be grateful if Hong Kong Department could find out from POD what they have in mind for Mr Kinnear and consider further the question of bringing him back for a visit.
(e) Vietnam
Mr Roberts was most impressed by the way in which Mr Tesh has been handling our relations with Vietnam and by his enthusiasm for the promotion of British exports. He feared, however, that it might be necessary to pour a little cold water on some of Mr Tesh's enthusiasms. We wondered whether there was a case for some limited form of capital aid to Vietnam. We agreed that it
would be useful to discuss this with Mr Tesh. It will not be easy to get Ministers to change their attitude on this to divert eg money from India to Vietnam but it is probable that such a move would pay off.
(f) South Asia
I discussed with Mr Roberts the possibility of his attending the South Asian Heads of Mission meeting in Delhi in March. He would welcome an invitation. We agreed that at least half a day should be spent on trade matters and another half day on aid. Both subjects would, of course, tend to merge but we should not allow aid to dominate the Conference. It might also be necessary to spend some time on economic questions generally including commodities, North/South dialogue, GSP, relations with the EEC, etc. Mr Roberts would be glad to produce a paper as necessary for the Conference. Mr Roberts, incidentally, expressed disappointment at the muted FCO contribution to the first meeting of the committee which is looking into the Trade/Aid relationship. I will have a word with Derek Thomas about this.
9 December 1976
HAH Cortazzi
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Private notes are available after approval.