TNAG-0741-FCO40-945-Relations-between-China-and-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 142

CONFIDENTIAL .

SECTION V:

COCOM AND POLITICAL CONSIDER' TIONS

DSK 10

KOMBATERA ZORENJANI GERADOR PORN WOMEN-

46.

Whether or not the UK sells arms to China and

if so what kind of arms, depends not only on a calculation

of the strategic considerations,but also on British

political and moral obligations to friendly countries,

and the possible repercussions of such sales on British

interests.

47. The first consideration is COCOM, which was set up

to control the sale of equipment and technology which

might be of significant military benefit to the Soviet

Union and her Warsaw Pact allies in Europe and to China

in the Far East. Its members are NATO, less Iceland,

and Japan.

COCOM currently treats strategic sales to

China on the same basis as those to the Soviet Union,

though COCOM agreed in December 1977 to procedures which

would for the first time allow member countries to argue

that particular military sales should be allowed as

being not against the strategic interest of the West.

COCOM is of great importance to the United Kingdom vis-

a-vis the Soviet Union, and it would be short-sighted

to take any action which would undermine, let alone

destroy, the system. If it were weakened, the Americans

could be expected to seek to continue the present embargo

in other ways (eg control over US licensed components).

This would be likely to lead to friction in relations

between the US and her allies seeking to sell arms to

China, with probable repercussions on other aspects of

/Alliance

CONFIDERTIAL

107991 400 000 7176 304 933