it
VA - T
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Orr
HKK 0211
INDEX
Security Dep
CC:
HKGD
EESD
PUSD-
Y NO.
82. 51
20 SEP 1977
SK OFMZ.
NOTE FOR THE RECORD ME
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SOVIET INTEREST. IN THE FAR EAST: CALL BY MR VYECHESLAV DOLGOV
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1. Mr Dolgov, successor to Mr Vasily I Voshchankin, Political Counsellor at the Soviet Embassy, made an introductory call on me on 13 September. He said that: Ye would like to take up the contact maintained with FED by Mr Voshch ankin during his time here. Our discussion dealt chiefly with Sino-Brivi.h and Sino-Soviet relations with Japan and with South Korear/Japanese relations.
2. On China, I told Mr Dolgov that we saw the 11th Party Congress as confirming the trends that had become apparent once it was
The main doubt clear that Teng Hsiao-ping would be rehabilitated. in our minds was the position of Wang Tung-hsing, a shadowy figure - whose relative youth and control of the security apparatus made him a figure worth watching. The Chinese were embarking on more pragmatic economic policies than had been possible during the ascendency of the Gang of Four, but so far as we could tell the. main lines of foreign policy as laid down during Mao's last years were being adhered to. Mr Dolgov said that there was.certainly no change in the Chinese attitude towards the Soviet Union. On de-Maoification, on which Mr Dolgov expressed an interest, I said that I thought the Chinese, for reasons of face, would maintain Maj as a cult figure but that this would not prevent them from pursuing pragmatic policies, particularly in the economic field, which Mao would certainly not have approved of in the last ten years of his life. Latest developments suggested that the Chinese interest in foreign technology would continue to grow: from the British side we would of course take advantage of whatever opportunities this presented us with; we had been disappointed by the level of our trade with China in the last year and a half. When Mr Dolgov enquired if we would sell more military technology to China I said that while I could not exclude, the Spey contract was the only project of this kind in hand at present: More generally, it was increasingly difficult, in expanding technological cooperation · with other countries (which we certainly wished to do with China) to draw a clear-cut line when it came to possible military or non-military applications. However, it was our policy to look carefully at the strategic implications of all equipment we sold to foreign countries, and we would continue to do so.
3. Mr Dolgov piçked up a reference I made to Hong Kong in . another part of the conversation and said that Soviet scientific vessels had an interest from time to time in calling at Hong Kong and had encountered difficulties (possibly a reference to the Dmitri Mendeleev (Hong Kong telno 827): was the decision made in Hong Kong or in London, and was the situation likely to change? said this was primarily a matter for the Hong Kong Government
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