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acceptable to both sides, if the will is there. Officials here have been trying for nearly a year to negotiate a solution and remain ready to talk at any time: I have to say that we have not yet discerned a matching resolve on the Hong Kong side to find a fresh meeting point rather than assume that political pressure will avoid the need for any serious movement.
Time is short, as you say; although we can at a pinch move a little from the end of February deadline, the practicalities of making plans to retain or withdraw the patrol craft means that this needs to be resolved with the next few
I suggest that the next step should be for your
Department to make it absolutely clear to the Hong Kong Government that unless they are prepared to make a very substantial contribution, or take on direct responsibility for the craft, withdrawal will be inevitable. To avoid this they must start negotiations as quickly as possible to find a mutually acceptable solution.
The Rt Hon The Earl of Caithness Foreign and Commonwealth office
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You ever
ARCHIE HAMILTON
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