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took on the more challenging US and Japanese tours.
Hua's initial forays were to Communist countries, less
unfamiliar territory for a newcomer to diplomacy. Having
successfully passed those hurdles (and less happily a
visit to Iran shortly before the Shah's fall) Hua was
free to turn to Western Europe. His tour was the
culmination of a series of increasingly high level
developing exchanges in all fields with Western Europe, Aparticularly fast
since his accession to power.
CHINESE OBJECTIVES
5.
For the Chinese the main objectives of the tour were
political. They intended it to highlight and accelerate
China's political and economic cooperation with Western
Europe, both to strengthen China's hand in her relations
with the Soviet Union and to tap European technology for
China's modernisation programme; to improve the standing
of China, and of Premier Hua personally, in international
affairs; and to impress Chinese views of the international
situation on Western European Governments and public
opinion. It was the logical culmination of China's
growing links with Europe. But its unprecedented nature
was a deliberate demonstration of the importance China
attaches to Europe.
BRITISH, AND WESTERN EUROPEAN, OBJECTIVES
6. British objectives were rather different. We wished
to impress Premier Hua with Britain as a stable and
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