Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT
LETTER
To:-
C ONFIDENTIAL.
Sir John Hunt GC B
Cabinet Office
PREMIER HUA
Т
Type 1 +
From
PUS
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
GU OF ENG'S VISIT: OBJECTIVES AND BRIEFING
The
DSR 11
C:
ermanent ecretaries:
Trade
Industry
Defence
Treasury
Energy
1.
As you know, Chinese Premier Hua Guofeng will be making an official visit to this country from
28 October to 3 November. He will come here from
He
France and Germany and before a visit to Italy.
will be accompanied by Vice Premier Yu Qiuli, Foreign
Minister Huang Hua, and four Vice Ministers (of Foreign
Affairs, Planning, Foreign Trade and Public Security).
Education &
Science
Transport
MAFF
OD B Alexander
Esq.
ว 10
CC:
S PS/LI'S
'S/Mr Hurd
S/Mr Blaker
!r Bullard
Ir Cortazzi
Ir C Taylor, GHF
2.
This will be the first time a Chinese Prime
Minister has visited Britain, and Hua's first visit
to Western Europe.
A visit at this level is unlikely to be repeated for a long time; and, as Hua is effectively, though not in name, Head of State as well as Government,
it represents a unique opportunity for us to influence
and impress Chinese political, economic and commercial
thinking at the highest level.
3.
Bulwark
Since
The timing is particularly rappropriate.
the fall of the Gang of Four and the return to power of
Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leadership have
been increasingly looking to broaden the scope of their
political and commercial cooperation with the West.
They see the West both as a virtualally against the
Soviet Union, and as a vital source of the modern
technology they need for their economic modernisation.
Our own bilateral relations with China have become
substantially closer under the new Chinese leadership
and our bilateral trade and cooperation over Hong Kong
have both improved. Hua's visit offers us the opportunity
both to carry this process further, and also to make an
important contribution to the further strengthening of the
Dd 0532000 800M 5/78 HMSO Bracknell