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CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO 091600Z MAR 84
TO PRIORITY PEKING
TELEGRAM NUMBER 204 OF 09 MARCH
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG
YOUR TELNOS 234 AND 235:
1. WE FIND IT SURPRISING
INDEX
co
CHINESE VISA OFFICE IN HONG KONG
see (19) 2
THAT THE CHINESE HAVE PRESENTED US WITH
A NEW DRAFT AT THIS LAST STAGE. AT YOUR NEXT MEETING YOU MAY
WISH TO MAKE SOME REFERENCE TO THE DELAY THIS HAS CAUSED.
2. WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT IN YOUR TELNO
235:
3. AS A GENERAL POINT, AS THIS IS, TECHNICALLY, AN UNDERSTANDING
RATHER THAN AN AGREEMENT, THE WORD 'WILL' SHOULD PROPERLY BE USED
INSTEAD OF 'SHALL' SEMICOLON THIS POINT OCCURS IN FIVE PLACES IN
PARA 3, THREE PLACES IN PARA 4 AND TWICE IN PARA 5.
4.
PARAGRAPH 3: NO OBJECTION TO PROVISIONS OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
IT IS AN AMALGAM OF ARTICLE 35 OF THE VIENNA CONVENTION ON
CONSULAR RELATIONS (VCCR) AND ARTICLE 27 OF THE VIENNA
CONVENTION ON DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS (VCDR). WE NOTE THAT IT GIVE
ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY TO THE BAG (IE ON THE SCALE OF ARTICLE 27(3) O
VCDR AND NOT THE MORE LIMITED PROTECTION AFFORDED BY ARTICLE
35(3) OF VCCR). WE SUGGEST TWO DRAFTING AMENDMENTS TO PARAGRAPH
3:
(1) ALTHOUGH WE HAVE NO LEGAL OBJECTION TO 'BRITISH HONG KONG
AUTHORITIES', WE THINK IT SOUNDS ODD LINGUISTICALLY AND WOULD
PREFER TO REPLACE IT BY 'BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN HONG KONG'. THE
LATTER PHRASE WAS USED BY THE CHINESE IN AN EARLIER DRAFT (YOUR
TELNO 49 OF 17 MAY 1983 TO HONG KONG), AND APPEARED IN THE UK/CHINA
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING OF 23 SEPTEMBER 1981. PRESUMABLY THE
CHINESE WOULD NOT OBJECT TO IT NOW. FOR OUR OWN PART, SINCE WE
ACCEPTED THE PHRASE IN 1981, WE CAN SCARCLEY ATTEMPT NOW TO IMPROVE
ON IT(FROM A POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW) BY DELETING 'BRITISH'.
(II) THE WORD QUOTE ARTICLE UNQUOTE IN THE LAST SENTENCE IS
INCONSISTENT WITH TERMINOLOGY USED ELSEWHERE. WE SUGGEST FIRST
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