TNAG-2714-FCO40-3920-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 54

14-JUL-1993 16:37

JAMES LEE

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT

MR. ALASTAIR GOODLAD COMMITTEE 14 JULY 1993

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On the question of retaliation against other countries that have,

the United States did not suffer bilateral retaliation but the

Chinese did pull out of some multilateral discussions of weapons

proliferation but the American relationship is on a different

basis to ours; their Taiwan Act does allow for sales of

defence-related equipment.

The Netherlands were forced to withdraw their ambassador from

Peking after sales to Taiwan in the early 1980s and their

relationship suffered accordingly and they subsequently signed an

agreement with the Chinese prohibiting further sales and I think

that the Dutch, despite some pressure from the defence industry

there, are reluctant to vitiate their other commercial relations

with China by repeating the arms sales.

They were forced to close their

The French sold them Mirages.

consulate in Canton and it is also thought that they have had

difficulty in obtaining official access in Peking and that some of

their companies have been frozen out of major mainland contracts

and the Chinese have threatened further retaliation when the

planes are actually delivered.

So there is evidence that the Chinese take seriously their view

that the sale of such equipment is an interference in their

internal affairs and we have no plans to sell arms or to allow

arms to be sold to Taiwan,

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