3.
7.
Dr Owen said that he personally up until 1972 had not joined in criticism of the increase in Soviet military expenditure. He had thought it natural that the Soviet Union's aim should be to achieve military parity with the United States and in particular to build up a navy virtually from scratch. But from 1972 onwards he had become more worried (and he thought that he was a fair representative of middle ground opinion in Britain) by. the continued Soviet military expansion in relation to their domestic economy. He had noted that the build up in Europe continued at the same time as on the Sino-Soviet border.
8
Against this background, the UK was still puzzled about Soviet motives but was determined to be vigilant and not to allow an imbalance to creep up on us which we might later regret. We had decided to continue to talk and to try to understand their motives. We understand that historically military over-insurance was traditional Soviet policy but we were puzzled by their aggressive stance. We were willing to negotiate force reductions in Europe provided that they did not adversely affect the existing imbalance against us. We would therefore encourage the Americans and Russians to pursue sensible arrangements: hence we supported SALT II. We were willing to look at the dangers of proliferation of nuclear weapons. As a nuclear state (but not a nuclear super-power) we would try to arrange a comprehensive test ban treaty in such a way as to persuade those states who were near to becoming nuclear powers not to take this step. We would also pursue our own contacts with Russians in the scientific, cultural, and other fields; but at the same time we were not prepared to exclude from the dialogue factors which the Soviet Union regarded as its own internal affair - ie the new and difficult factor of human rights. In dealing with a country with which we had much in common we could not accept that détente could be a one way street in which the Soviet Union got its way without cost. This was a very difficult policy to pursue but the issue was one which inevitably arose as countries grew closer together. Dr Owen would not accept (and even if he did, the people of this country would not accept) taking human rights off the agenda.
9.
In summary Dr Owen said that he had described Europe's and the United States' approach to East-West relations. He had deliberately left aside how Sino-Soviet relations fitted into the pattern.
The West were not defeatists. We did not accept that war was inevitable. We were worried, but we would pursue dialogue with the Soviet Union and we accepted that many of our objectives would take a long time to achieve.
10.
Mr Huang thanked Dr Owen for this account of the British view point and said that he would like to put forward China's view of international relations and Soviet strategy.
3.
/11.