晨
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D.
5.
Cambodia
Continuing his reference to CHOGM, Dr Harris said that there would need to be a general reference to Cambodia in the communique. CHOGM was,
however, not the correct forum for a detailed discussion of what was essentially a regional issue. It was important to work for a political solution within the ASEAN framework. The Australians had detected some movement by the Malaysians and the Indonesians away from the hardline Thai position. The main stumbling block now was the Khmer Rouge. There could be no solution which involved participation by the Khmer Rouge as, in the opinion of the Australians, that would surely lead to civil war. The Australians could not support UN action for this reason. Sir Antony Acland said that the UK supported the ASEAN position. He commented, however, that he had found little optimism in the region when he accompanied the Prime Minister during her visit last year.
Bilateral Issues
E.
6.
Sir Antony Acland looked forward to the planned Pol-Mil talks to be held in Canberra early next year. He referred to the British Government's gift of £1m to the Australian Bicentenary and Mr Parsons expressed the view that the UK Committee was acting energetically and experiencing much less difficulty than its counterpart in Australia. On the subject of residual constitutional links, Dr Harris said that while progress was going ahead in the States, it looked likely that the Commonwealth timetable would slip a little. It was agreed that the two Governments would consult on the report of the Royal Commission on Nuclear Tests.
F.
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB)
7. Dr Harris expressed the thought that the British position on CTB had eased a little in the light of Mr Luce's statement in Geneva. He accepted our point on verification, but hoped that ultimately we would be abe to support the Australia/ New Zealand Resolution, rather than abstain. Sir Antony Acland cautioned Dr Harris against reading too much into Mr Luce's statement as there had been no significant change in our position and we still considered the point of verification an essential prerequisite. Mr Benson recognized that it would be difficult for us to take a view until we had seen a draft of this year's Resolution which he would be discussing with ACDD as early as possible.
G.
Vietnamese Refugees
8. Sir Antony Acland raised the SCORRI Report on Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and emphasised the points which our High Commissioner had already made in Canberra. We recognised that
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