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by the PRC should be well-considered, with phases and timescale set out in a (say) 5-year plan. It appeared that further PRC/HK discussion would be needed before the RAN meeting to refine the package.
8.
Initial technical discussion then took place on the first stage of the proposed package, i.e. status quo plus immediate improvements. The latter, in order of degree of practicability were tentatively established as:
(i)
to revise danger area 4 to avoid Amber 901.
(ii)
to establish Amber 2 BKK-HKG direct crossing Hainan Island.
(iii) to revise Amber 1 direct HKG-Danang-BKK, i.e.
Amber 5 in the ANP.
(It was considered that (ii) was probably more acceptable to PRC than (iii).) As further advantages flowing from such immediate improvements, under (i) Amber 901 could be realigned clockwise by 5 degrees and the Singapore route in turn straightened; under (ii) not only the Singapore route could be further straightened but also an additional direct route (B84) to Brunei/Kota Kinabalu could be set up; under (iii) Singapore route could be straightened to pass overhead Dong Dao (Paracels) VOR/NDB.
9.
The PRC appeared to need UK/HK support to get this package accepted, but initially did not want to discuss detail until after the RAN meeting. They appeared to appreciate (i) the need to put to the RAN firm outline proposals for the package, plus details of at least the first phase(s), and (ii) the need for further discussion with Hk prior to the RAN to establish such details and also to gain UK support for the whole package. No arrangements were however made for further discussion, pending the PRC delegation's return to Peking.
10.
The Chinese were also worried about their lack of knowledge concerning the conduct of a meeting. Lu asked Keep whether or not the UK would make an opening statement. Keep was obviously not able to respond accurately to this but said that UK would not necessarily make an opening statement other than the normal platitudes on such an occasion. The Chinese perception of what they propose to discuss and how it may be put at the meeting seemed to vary from minute to minute but the final picture which emerged at a closing dinner with the Chinese team appeared to be along the following lines.
11.
China would initially propose that some substantial portion of the South China Sea should be termed Guangzhou FIR. However Lu proposed to solicit the assistance of the ICAO President to put forward a plan along the lines of that which we finally came up with between us on behalf of ICAO. Presumably he would present this as a sort of deal in that China would do its best to improve communications by the various means described above in return for ICAO's support and quashing of the
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