TNAG-2080-FCO40-2960-Hong-Kong-politically-sensitive-issues-1991 — Page 18

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CONFIDENTIAL

Issue

4

-

Objective/explanation

Present status/progress

China

interest*

UK

interest*

Secretary for Trade and Industry

Asian Pacific Economic

Cooperation (APEC)

: Hong Kong's

participation

Partly because of the

"China complication" and

partly because of ASEAN'S reluctance to see a dilution of ASEAN influence, Hong Kong was not invited to the inaugural Ministerial meeting of APEC held in Canberra on 6-7 November 1989. At the Canberra Ministerial, it was felt that the participation of Hong Kong, China and Taiwan should be addressed in the next Ministerial to be held in Singapore in mid-1990. The Hong Kong Government has all along indicated a clear & keen interest in joining APEC, given Hong Kong's separate contracting party status and active role in the GATT, its position as a separate economic entity and as integral part of the regional economy. importantly, Hong Kong's participation would be well within Hong Kong's commercial autonomy enshrined in the

More

At the second APEC Ministerial meeting held in Singapore on 21-22 May 1990, Ministers

acknowledged the

particularly significant role in the region of the three economies of Hong Kong, China and Taiwan and reaffirmed their earlier view that it was desirable for the trio to participate in future APEC consultative meetings. Ministers agreed that consultations should proceed with the three economies, with a view to reaching arrangements

agreeable to the three and current Members of the APEC for all three to

participate in APEC at the same time, either at the third ministerial meeting to be held in Seoul in October 1991 or as soon as possible thereafter. China's official reaction to date is that China has no objection to Hong Kong and Taiwan joining APEC at the same time as China on the understanding that

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CONFIDENTIAL #