TNAG-1143-FCO40-1423-Hong-Kong-and-the-Falkland-Islands-crisis-1982 — Page 75

London into whether

hey support d us, were ambivalent, or

opposed us. Any such classification runs into problems

over ander line cases. However, in general it is poss-

ible to allocate countries with a fair degree of confi-

dence into one of the three categories, since all the

countries have been lobbied extensively by both sides

over the course of the conflict and have declared them-

selves by their actions. Annex 'A' lists those countries rently (in London

represented by Ambassadors of High Commissioners which

gave us positive moral or material support; Annex 'B'

lists those which were ambivalent, neutral or silent, or

which were in some ways helpful but in other ways unhelpful;

Annex 'C' lists those which opposed us. Annex 'A' con-

tains 45 names, Annex 'B' 47, Annex 'C' 19.

7

5. Any such selective inviting of the Diplomatic Corps

can cause resentment from those who feel that they should

have been invited because of their seniority within the

Corpos. On the other hand it would be entirely inapprop- riate to invite Ambassadors from Annex 'C' simply because

they have been in London a long time; all these would in

any case almost certainly not wish to attend. To invite

Ambassadors from Annex 'B' would be invidious, since it

would look as though we were calling on them to declare

their support for us now, even though they had failed to

do so unambiguously during the conflict. There might be

some Ambassadors from this list who might feel aggrieved

at not being invited; a sufficient response would be

that there were not enough places to invite the entire

Corps so we could only invite those whose countries had

given us most support.

6. Although 100 seats have been reserved, there is con-

siderable pressure on places, and the Ministry of Defence

would like to reallocate any which are not needed by the

/Corps.

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