TNAG-2224-FCO40-3195-Gulf-War-burden-sharing-Hong-Kong-contribution-1991 — Page 24

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responsible member

of

the

HK

Mr. Stephen Cheong advised

advised that he

that he found it very difficult to support the proposal. He was not against HK behaving as a international community, but he objected to voluntarily contributing to UKG without. being requested to do so. Mr. Cheong noted that UK spokesmen had repeatedly stressed that help had not been requested, and he wondered why the contribution was not being made to the government of Kuwait which was most affected, or to the United States of America (USA) which had openly requested help. He considered that the proposal was an open-ended one and ran the risk of laying the foundations for further contributions to be requested formally. He considered that a formal request from the UK should be awaited and negotiations could then include the factor that the contribution should be a one-off payment. He considered it was misleading to the public to suggest that if a voluntary contribution was not made, HK was deemed to be an uncaring or irresponsible member of the international community. HK's track record had proven to the world that it had

had been a responsible member of the world community, as was evident from efforts in support of Vietnamese refugees and boat people, and trade embargoes with South Africa, Argentina and Iraq.

Не considered that the Administration had not thought through all the implications of the proposal which should not be rushed.

Mr. Kingsley Sit considered that the proposal should be postponed, because the need for urgency was not explained, the UK had made no request, and the proposal had been amended. The Chairman advised that he wished

hear what all Members had to say on the proposal. It remained to be seen whether, at the end of the discussion, Members did not wish to take a vote on the proposal.

to

Mr.

Cheung Yan-lung

Yan-lung advised that he was in favour of а contribution without conditions attached. He noted that extensive diplomatic efforts had been made to resolve the Gulf conflict, but without success, The war was therefore necessary to bring about peace and K should make a contribution so as to end the war as soon as possible and reduce casualties as much as possible. He noted that HK had no natural resources and had to rely on the international community

community for investment and economic drive.