TNAG-1151-FCO40-1431-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-United-Nations-1983 — Page 58

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DSR 11C

in so acting we were not defending a colonial

possession, but standing up for the right of a small

but authentic people to determine who they should be

governed by and how they should live. And all the

measures that we took were designed to ensure

compliance with the demands of the United Nations

Security Council. The losses that we suffered and the

costs in men and ships were considerable. But we had

the satisfaction of upholding the principles of the

United Nations and demonstrating that in some cases at

least aggression does not pay.

UND

MED.

13. But the Falklands dispute, though it loomed large

for us, is far from being the only example of defiance

of UN principles and far from the most costly.

14. This year the region which has suffered most from

war has once more been the Near and Middle East. The

senseless conflict between Iran and Iraq has cost

thousands of lives. It has seriously endangered the

stability of a crucial region of the world vital to the

interests of many countries outside.

Surely the time

has come for both sides to accept that further conflict

is fruitless. As so often in war both sides have been

the losers, and to prolong the conflict further will

only increase the suffering of their own peoples.

NENAD

15.

Almost as destructive in absolute terms and more