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B. WE WOULD HAVE ENABLED A HONG KONG BASED CARRIER TO
START OPERATING SERVICES IMMEDIATELY TO ONE OF THE
TWO MOST IMPORTANT TRAFFIC POINTS IN CHINA, WITH A
GUARANTEE OF ADDING PEKING LATER.
4. PARA 6. IF EITHER OPTION.B OR OPTION C IS ADOPTED THE
IMPORTANCE OF HONG KONG AS A GATEWAY INTO CHINA WILL DWINDLE.
BUSINESS TRAFFIC FROM HONG KONG TO PEKING ALREADY FINDS IT
MORE CONVENIENT TO GO VIA TOKYO (AS EVIDENCED BY RECENT MOVE-
MENTS OF MEMBERS OF OUR OWN TEAM) THE FILIPINOS HAVE DECLARED THEIR INTENTION OF MAKING MANILA THE MAIN GATEWAY TO CHINA AND
THE START OF SERVICES FROM MANILA TO CANTON AND PEKING IS
NOW ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY. IF WE WERE TO WAIT SEVERAL YEARS
BEFORE ESTABLISHING DIRECT AIR SERVICES BETWEEN HONG KONG AND THE TWO PRINCIPAL CHINESE CITIES (SEE PARA 2 ABOVE) HONG KONG
WOULD FIND IT VERY HARD TO FIGHT ITS WAY BACK.
5. PARA 8. IN THE COURSE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ROGERS HAS
TRIED A VERY SIMILAR TACK WITH THE CHINESE BUT WITHOUT SUCCESS.
HE PROPOSED THAT BOTH SIDES SHOULD HAVE AN EQUAL NUMBER OF POINTS
IN THE REGION BUT THAT SOME OF OURS SHOULD BE DEFERRED FOR A
PERIOD OF TWO OR THREE YEARS. LU WOULD HAVE NONE OF THIS. IT
SEEMS UNREALISTIC TO SUPPOSE THAT THE CHINESE WILL ACCEPT ANY
COMMITMENT TO FUTURE EQUALITY, HOWEVER LONG DEFERRED.
6. PARA 10. WE UNDERSTAND THAT HONG KONG HAS ACCBU D THE
RULES OF THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN IN RESPECT OF CHARTERS FROM THE
UNITED STATES BECAUSE THERE IS NO BRITISH OPERATOR ON THE
TRANSPACIFIC ROUTE TO PROTECT. THE SAME CONSIDERATIONS
WOULD TEND TOWARDS ACCEPTANCE OF WHATEVER CHARTER RULES THE
CHINESE MIGHT PROPOSE. IN PRACTICE THE QUOTE SPECIAL EVENT
UN QUOTE CHARTERS DURING THE CANTON FAIRS WERE SCHEDULED SERVICES FOR PERIODS OF TWO MONTHS OR SO AT A TIME SEMICOLON AND SINCE
HONG KONG HAS NO RULES FOR QUOTE ADVANCE BOOKING CHARTERS
UNQUOTE IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO RESIST ABCS WITH A VERY SHORT
ADVANCE BOOKING PERIOD (THE CHINESE SUGGESTED SEVEN DAYS TOWARDS
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