CONFIDENTIAL
in which the complex relationship between the West,
including the US, China and the Soviet Union will evolve.
The Chinese may be right to regard Soviet professions of
adherence to détente as a subterfuge, though this is not
our conclusion. Just as our aim must be to discourage
reversion by China to the old isolation, so it is essential
that the West should continue to pursue détente with the
Soviet Union - on terms which build on our mutual interest
in the process in the hope that this policy will lead
eventually to a mellowing of Soviet attitudes towards the
West, strengthen the vested interests in the Soviet Union
in favour of peaceful cooperation, and minimise the risk
of reversion to a more confrontational East/West relationship.
In seeking to improve Sino-British relations, we must
continue to try to convince the Russians that this policy
is not directed against their interests, and to ensure
that it does not undermine the overriding requirements of
our détente policy
6.
In the UN context, China's special position creates
both problems and opportunities. I do not see how
the longer term issues of security, disarmament and non-
proliferation and world poverty can be solved without
Chinese involvement; and it is essential that the Chinese
should come to see that their own interests also require it
The internationalisation of China's policies is an interest
which Britain shares with the West as a whole.
17.