TNAG-1525-FCO40-2089-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1986 — Page 180

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SKIAHJ

Mr Currie

FED

Reference. FILE

CONFIDENTIAL

147

EUROPEAN POLITICAL COOPERATION: UK PRESIDENCY; ASIA WORKING GROUP

1.

Mr Orr's minute of 14 February

contact for the AWG.

refers.

I shall be the HKD

two subjects

in Po Co:

I mentioned at Dr Wilson's meeting on 14 February, which HKD may wish to propose for discussion

2.

a) Hong Kong/GATT

of

We have proposed to the Chinese that they and we should jointly declare that Hong Kong, and after 1997 the Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region, should be deemed to be a separate

contracting party to the GATT, under Article XXVI (5) (c)

the treaty.

If, as we hope, the Chinese agree to this at the

next meeting of the Joint Liaison Group in mid-March, we shall

want to approach ou r ma in trading partners to prepare the

ground.

There may be concern at the implications

for the

future might China in effect have two voices in GATT after

1997?

and s ome partners might be tempted to see this

procedure as an opportunity to negotiate advantages in terms of trade with Hong Kong. We hope that political considerations

Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong

the need to mak e the

Kong work and, therefore,

of

to secure Hong Kong's international trading status in plenty

time will prevail. But, depending

on the initial reactions of our trading partners to our

approaches on this (which we shall probably make in

to engage their political

and at Geneva) we may wish

by raising the matter in Po Co.

capitals

attention

حد

WE INCATTAI

LIKK 243/

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

10 MAR 1985

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

ΡΑ

Action Taken

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CONFIDENTIAL