FILE
7
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
HKC 031/7
V Tarnofsky Esq
Assistant Comptroller
IPCD
Department of Trade and Industry
State House
66-71 High Holborn
LONDON
WC1R 4TP
Dear Victor,
2031/7
HKC031/7
TOMAPH
one week with
Pl by again 23 February 1989/
Il by, as week with Œ.
врагтра
DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE FOR THE CONCLUSION OF A TREATY ON THE PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN RESPECT OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS: WASHINGTON, 8-26 MAY 1989
تار
1. I was very surprised to see your letter of 22 February to Frances Grier, particularly after the constructive discussions we had on this subject last year. I do not find the arguments you advance for turning down Hong Kong's request to join the UK delegation for the meeting any more convincing now than I did then.
2.
It is surely for the Hong Kong Government to judge for themselves whether attendance at the meeting would be in Hong Kong's interests. I am sure you will agree that a territory of Hong Kong's size and economic significance should have every opportunity to be involved in discussions in this important area.
3.
There are to the best of my knowledge no precedents for refusing such a request from the Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong Government representatives participate in a wide variety of international organisations and conferences, either in their own right or as part of the UK delegation, as appropriate in each case. A recent occasion was a diplomatic conference concluding a treaty in the drugs field, where North/South problems of the sort referred to in your letter were also a potential problem. Nonetheless a Hong Kong Government representative was an active member of the UK delegation.
4.
As you know, with your agreement, Miss Waters participated in the meetings in Geneva last year as a silent member of the UK team. The Chinese authorities had no problems with that. Nor did any other
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