TNAG-1176-FCO40-1478-Air-services-between-the-UK--China-and-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 150

CONFIDENTIAL

PEKING

COPY HONG KONG GOVERNOR

Your Tel 203: UK/PRC Air Services

In the light of CAAC views reported in your TUR and the

substantial and systematic abuse of the Tianjin/Nanjing

permits reported in Hong Kong Telegram Allot 32 of 19 April

we have been considering what action to take under Article 4

of the ASA in granting or refusing new permits from

1 May.

it

Although it is arguable that we should not renew the

permits at all or restrict each permit to one service a week in each direction to carry the genuine Tianjin/Nanjing

traffic because such action might appear to be the only way

to prevent further infringements of our regulations,

would be more normal in a dispute of this kind to

allow time for consultation under Article 4(2) of the ASA

aiming to use such consultations to extract concessions

of benefit to the UK airlines whose interests are affected.

Moreover the CAAC letter already points to consultations

as the appropriate course.

we

Subject to your views and those of Hong Kong we therefore

propose that you should reply to CAAC's letter of 4 April

in the terms of the draft in MIFT.

1

NR

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