TNAG-2056-FCO40-2934-Hong-Kong-and-the-Organisation-for-Economic-Cooperation-and--1990 — Page 7

UNITED KINGDOM DELEGATION TO THE

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION

RESTRICTED

R Bone Esq ERD, FCO

#

dearlyr,

OECD/HONG KONG

HAB

Нид

F

AND DEVELOPMENT

19 RUE DE FRANQUEVILLE

RUE

751725 PARIS CEDEX 16^

PERPHONE (1) 524 98-20

30

021/2

Y

W 17 October 1990

27 of Mr Maharan

Mr Burns

para

9-10

In particular

//

1. In view of Mr Maude's earlier interest in this subject, you may like a short record of the discussion at my dinner for the Governor of Hong Kong and the OECD Secretary-General last night

(guest list attached).

2. Sir D Wilson gave a lucid account of the unresolved power struggle in Peking, which made short-term predictions hazardous. But his longer-term view was cautiously upbeat: he saw evidence of Hong Kong's (and Taiwan's) entrepreneurial influence spreading back into the south China hinterland. The Canton area was now imbued with a degree of market dynamism which Peking would find very difficult to arrest.

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3. For its part, Hong Kong was looking for opportunities to register its autonomy in trade matters internationally, and to safeguard this status after 1997 through improved links with international organisations. HK's accession to GATT with China's blessing had been a major achievment; HK was engaged in consolidating its relations with the IMF China had initially been suspicious but now seemed less so. But Peking remained ultra-sensitive to any move that implied separate statehood or nationhood for HK, all the more So since June 1989. This conditioned HK's approach to the OECD, a body of sovereign states. The gradualist, informal approach taken by the OECD/DAE dialogue suited HK's interests perfectly.

4.

Jean-Claude Paye said that this chimed in well with his own views. He had taken some pains to keep the Chinese Embassy in Paris informed as the OECD/DAE dialogue took shape; again, they had been a little suspicious at first but of late had become less nervous. I emphasised the OECD's flexible and pragmatic approach, and drew attention to how much could be done to thicken up contacts in ways falling short of full membership, citing the examples of Korea in shipbuilding and Mexico in steel.

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