TNAG-1401-FCO40-1873-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continued-participation-in-the-General-A-1985 — Page 119

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2/3 majority of Contracting Parties, the developing

countries would be able to guarantee the explicit

recognition of Part IV principles in any protocol.

More generally, China could be expected to reinforce

powerfully the developing country lobby within the

GATT, and to take a consistently unhelpful line on the

wide range of issues on which the interests of

developed and developing countries differ.

Method of Joining

-

Rejoining or Resumption?

17. It is, in addition, becoming increasingly clear

that China does not intend to apply to rejoin the GATT

(under Article XXXIII, which provides for fresh

accessions with decisions taken by 2/3 majority, and

would allow existing contracting parties to secure

safeguard provisions, import commitments, etc as in the

case of other state traders), but to resume the seat

vacated by the Chinese Nationalists in 1950. There are

precedents for this - China's resumption of her seats

in the UN and in the IMF, for example. If it was

agreed that China could resume her seat, that would

make it more difficult to impose conditions like those

in the East European Protocols on Chinese accession.

China would have an obligation to pay 34 years of back

dues (totalling nearly 3 million Swiss francs, to which

compound interest could presumably be added) and to

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