TNAG-0781-FCO40-985-Involvement-of-Hong-Kong-in-air-services-agreements-1978 — Page 258

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3. THE CHINESE THEN SUGGESTED THAT JAPAN SHOULD PUT PRESSURE ON TAIWAN TO REMOVE THE INSIGNIA FROM ITS AIRCRAFT. CHINESE OBJECTIO A EARED TO HAVE SHIFTED AND TO BE NOT SO MUCH AGAINST CAL AIRCRAFT FLYING INTO THE SAME AIRPORTS AS CAAC PLANES, BUT THAT AIRCRAFT WITH RIVAL CLAIMS TO SOVEREIGNTY SHOULD BE SEEN PARKED SIDE BY SIDE.

4. IN JANUARY 1974, A JAPANESE GOVERNMENTAL SIX-POINT PROGRAMME WAS ELABORATED, ASSUMED TO HAVE TACIT CHINESE SUPPORT, WHICH CLEARED THE WAY FOR THE SIGNING OF THE ASA. THE AGREEMENT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A JAPANESE STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF CAL WHICH DESCRIBED THE ASA AS A GOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT AND FLIGHTS BETWEEN JAPAN AND TAIWAN AS REGIONAL AIR TRAFFIC. THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DID NOT RECOGNISE THE EMBLEM ON THE TAIWAN AIRCRAFT AS A NATIONAL FLAG NOR DID IT RECOGNESE CAL (TAIWAN) AS AN AIR FIRM REPRESENTING A STATE.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH TAIWAN.

5. JAPANESE ENDEAVOURS IN SEPTEMBER 1973 TO GET CAL TO CHANGE ITS NAME AND EMBLEM WERE FRUITLESS, AS WERE ATTEMPTS IN EARLY 1974 TO GET TAIWAN TO ACCEPT THE JAPANESE POSITION. A PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF OPPOSITION WAS SAID TO BE CHIANG CHING-KUO. TAIWANESE REACTION

· TO THE ASA WAS SEVERE: AIR SERVICES BETWEEN JAPAN AND TAIWAN WERE CANCELLED AND TAIWAN AIRSPACE DENIED TO JAPANESE AIRCRAFT. BY JULY 1975, HOWEVER, A NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED ON THE RESUMPTION OF AIR LINKS, THE WAY HAVING BEEN SMOOTHED BY A STATE- MENT FROM THE JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER REGRETTING MISUNDERSTAND- INGS CAUSED BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S STATEMENT OF 1974 ON THE STATUS OF TAIWAN'S FLAG AND DECLARING THAT NO ONE, INCLUDING JAPAN, COULD DENY THAT THERE WERE COUNTRIES WHICH RECOGNISED TAIWAN'S FLAG AS A NATIONAL FLAG. GROUND SERVICES AND TICKET SALES WERE TO BE HANDLED IN EACH COUNTRY BY THE HOST AIR COMPANY ON BEHALF OF THE OTHER COUNTRY. CHINESE REACTION WAS MUTED AND DIRECTED MAINLY AGAINST THE JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER'S STATEMENT.

STATU POSSIBLE TAIWAN REACTION TO BRITISH COMMENT ON THE STATUS OF CAL. 6. TAIWANESE REACTION TO THE JAPANESE STATEMENT DENYING INTERNAT- IONAL STATUS TO ITS FLAG WAS SEVERE. IT CANNOT BE RULED OUT THAT TAIWAN MIGHT REACT IN THE SAME WAY TO A SIMILAR PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM HMG. ON THE OTHER HAND, TAIWAN'S DIPLOMATIC ISOLATION HAS INCREASED SINCE 1972-74, A SITUATION THAT MAY INDUCE IT TO TAKE

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