Registry
No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
CONFIDENTIAL
DRAFT
LETTER
To:-
Dr D C Wilson Political Adviser HONG KONG
Type 1 +
From
RC Samuel
Telephone No. Ext.
WAA
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
........................................................................................In Confidence
cc:
Mr Popplewell,
PEKING
Mr Stuart, HKGD Mr Morland, MAEE Mr Darwin, Legal
Advisers
UNSCHEDULED FLIGHTS FROM CHINA TO HONG KONG
1.
Department
FED
Thank you for your letter SCR 7/936/49V of 9 December. It is useful to have this advance warning of ideas in the air in Hong Kong for non-scheduled and charter traffic between China and Hong Kong. It may take a week or two before we can comment substantively. We are keeping very much in mind the fact that none of these suggestions has yet been raised formally. However, it is clear that the question of handling even the normal Chinese requests for non-scheduled cargo flights should be looked at in the wider context of the suspended Air Services negotiations. If Huang Hua visits the UK in the first half of 1978 we can expect some disucssion on air services although it is clearly too early yet to say whether there are positive points which we would wish to make to him.
2. Meanwhile we should be grateful for any comments which Peking may have on the chances of future increases in China's foreign trade and contacts with the outside world making her prepared to be a little more flexible about the way in which air traffic between Hong Kong and China might be handled. The thought occurs to us that there might be some mileage in trying to get the Chinese to be more flexible for ad hoc charter flights on issues which would be questions of principle for any air traffic arranged within the framework of an Air Services Agreement.
CONFIDENTIAL
Dd 108087 400M S&K 1/77
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