CODE 18-77
CONFIDENTIAL
Reference.
PREMIER HUA GUOFENG'S VISIT: COORDINATION OF BRIEFING
1.
As you probably know, Chinese Premier Hua Guofeng will be visiting Britain from 28 October - 3 November, after visits to France and West Germany and before visiting Italy.
2. This will be Premier Hua's first visit to Western Europe, and thus represents a unique opportunity to influence his thinking. We have therefore proposed to the French, Germans and Italians that we should in so far as possible coordinate our approach to the visit, particularly on briefing, to maximise the impact on Premier Hua of his visit and in particular of his official discussions in the four capitals. The Germans were keen on this idea; the French less so. The Italians have given no formal response, but will probably be fairly receptive.,
3.
Before putting a formal proposal to our three partners, we need to have an idea of the subjects on which we believe coordination of briefing would be helpful. The subjects which most immediately occur to me are Indochina, and EEC/China. Other possibilities are East/West relations, Indonesia, UN issues (eg Non-Aligned Movement), disarmament and international economic issues (including aid), and Arab/Israel. The African Departments would presumably also wish us to ask our three partners to support strongly with the Chinese our policies on Southern Africa, particularly Zimbabwe- Rhodesia.
4. I should be grateful for views. I shall take a nil return by mid-day on Tuesday 25 September as indicating that you do not believe that any coordination would be useful on the issues covered by your department.
21 September 1979
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RC Fursland
Far Eastern Department
K 255 233 5539