TNAG-0868-FCO40-1078-Air-services-between-China--Hong-Kong-and-the-UK-1979 — Page 240

Miss Brown

•

PS/Mr Hurd

HFK 184/2

CONFIDENTIAL

RED IN W.

14 MAY 1979

по

Ji4.5

5.51

GISTRY

Taken

&

900

CHINA: AIR SERVICES AGREEMENT

The Minister of State will wish to be aware that we are

about to resume negotiations with the Government of China with

The Delegation, the aim of concluding an Air Services Agreement.

which is being led as usual by the Department of Trade, leaves London on 12 May for preliminary talks with the Hong Kong Govern-

ment. The talks in Peking start on 18 May.

2.

An earlier agreement reached in 1973 was never implemented because the Chinese demanded political concessions over Taiwan which we were unwilling to meet. But this difficulty now looks to have been overcome, and Far Eastern Department are submitting

separately on the new formula on Taiwan.

3.

If this problem is satisfactorily resolved, the main

The establishment agreement should raise no major difficulties.

of regional air services between Hong Kong and points in China other than Peking is however likely to raise problems of form

The Chinese have insisted that the and possibly of substance.

This

forthcoming negotiations in Peking should formally deal only with the trunk route between London and Peking via Hong Kong. is presumably because the inclusion in a formal international

CONFIDENTIAL

/agreement

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