TNAG-0866-FCO40-1076-Involvement-of-Hong-Kong-in-air-services-agreements-1979 — Page 39

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BEING ESTABLISHED ON DONG DAO IN THE PARACELS TO ENSURE SAFETY

OF AIR TRAFFIC USING THE NEW ROUTE. FOR AIRCRAFT FLYING HONG KONG/BANGKOK THIS ROUTE WOULD BE 160 KMS LONGER THAN AMBER ONE, AS AGAINST 36 KMS LONGER FOR THE PRESENT ROUNDABOUT ROUTE AVOID-

ING AMBER ONE. HE CONFIRMED THAT THE PRESIDENT OF ICAO

WOULD BE VISITING CHINA ON ABOUT 20 DECEMBER. XU RECALLED CHINA'S

WILLINGNESS TO CONSIDER WESTERN INTERESTS, EG IN THE RECENT OPENING OF THE ROUTE VIA KUNMING (ALTHOUGH HE ACKNOWLEDGED THIS WAS HARDLY RELEVANT TO FLIGHTS BETWEEN BANGKOK AND HONG KONG).

3. IN ANSWER TO SUGGESTIONS THAT IT WAS PERFECTLY POSSIBLE

FROM A TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW TO AVOID STRAYING BY AIRCRAFT

AND TO SEPARATE FLIGHT PATHS TO COPE WITH TRAFFIC CROSSING AMBER

ONE, XU DID NOT RESPOND DIRECTLY BUT MENTIONED GENERAL DEFENCE CONSIDERATIONS, HE DID NOT ELABORATE, APART FROM MENTIONING THE POSSIBILITY OF MISUNDERSTANDING. HE INDICATED THAT THE DONG

DAO FACILITY SHOULD BE READY BY THE END OF 1979 AND EARLY

1980. GEORGE AND FISCHER-DIESKAU LEFT WITH THE REQUEST THAT

THEIR REPRESENTATIONS WOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE CONTEXT OF

THE TALKS WITH ICAO. XU AGREED.

4. THE FRENCH AND ITALIANS MADE A SIMILAR APPROACH A FEW

DAYS AGO WITH LIKE RESULTS, EXCEPT THAT CAAC HAVE NOW A

DATE FOR THE DONG DAO FACILITY. THEY WERE ALSO TOLD THAT

CHINA HAD NO DESIRE TO ACT INDEPENDENTLY OF ICAO.

COMMENT

WE WERE NOT AWARE THAT AMBER ONE HAD SO RECENTLY BEEN

REALIGNED. THE CHINESE NO DOUBT FEEL AGGRIEVED THAT

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THEY WERE NOT CONSULTED, ALTHOUGH THE ROUTE IS OVER HIGH SEAS (AS THEY ACKNOWLEDGE) AND THEY WERE NOT IN ICAO AT THE TIME.

THE TECHNICAL CASE FOR THE CHINESE WISH TO RE-ROUTE

AMBER ONE HOWEVER SEEMS ANSWERABLE (TO A LAYMAN AT LEAST).

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