TNAG-0867-FCO40-1077-Air-services-between-China--Hong-Kong-and-the-UK-1979 — Page 122

Mr Cortazzi

HKK 184/1 REZZIVED IN REGINAY KO. 51

D-BK

INDEX

CHINA/AIR SERVICES AGREEMENT

No

4 APR 1979

FA

16.4

RECI RY

ction Taken

33

2

fn 82374

13

Мочиновий

учили узи नि

ir

1. The Embassy in Peking have now reached agreement with the,

Chinese at official level ad referendum on a formula to resolve

the political question attaching to the signature of an Air

Services Agreement.

A

2.

B

The formula is set out at A.

It is acceptable to

Hong Kong, the Department of Trade, MAED, HKGD and the Legal

Advisers.

I t represents an improvement on the negotiating

position which you approved on 15 March, in that the Chinese no

Longer seem to be insisting on a written assurance about CAAC

and CAL aircraft not "coinciding" at Kaitak Airport.

3. We shall have to submit this agreed formula to Ministers

following the General Election.

However, this need not,

in our view, hold up the technical talks which we have already

suggested to the Chinese.

We need not explain this process

But we

of Ministerial consultation in detail to them.

should make clear that we cannot give them our formal and final

agreement to the formula at this stage; otherwise they might

feel we had deliberately misled them in the unlikely event

Ministers should be unwilling to accept the formula.

4 -

I submit a self-explanatory draft teleletter to Mr Cradock.

2 April 1979

CC:

Mr Murray

Mr Morland MAED Mr McLaren HKGD

CONFIDENTIAL

و السا

R C Samuel

Far Eastern Dept