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2.
in Guangdong and asked advice on details. At present Hong Kong and its TDC offices were unable to help. If they knew more about Guangdong's plans and ideas they could be of greater assistance.
3.
Mr Wang welcomed the idea of a visit by Sir Y K Kan and a small group of experts. NCNA would be in touch with Canton about this and would arrange details with the Political Adviser's office. (Sir Y K Kan said that some time during the
10 days after 20 May would be the most convenient for him.) The Governor added that there could be preliminary discussion when the Financial Secretary and the Political Adviser were in Canton in early May. Mr Wang agreed.
4.
Mr Wang then spoke about Guangdong's needs. He said their greatest shortage was of energy, in particular electricity. Some 30% of Guangdong's factories were not able to operate at full capacity because of lack of power. One idea for solving this problem was a nuclear power station. He would speak about this later. Another was to use fossil fuels. But Guangdong lacked coal. Bringing coal from North China was difficult because it was needed locally. This meant that Guangdong had to get its coal from Central and South-West China. At present there was a railway from Canton to Zhanjiang (Guangzhou Wan) and from thence via Liuzhou to Guizhou where there was a large coal field. The latter part of the railway was single track and was unsatisfactory since it was laid on limestone. If it could be relaid and electrified the capacity would be increased by 100% - 150%. He thought this provided a good opportunity for co- operation with Hong Kong. In return for investment there could be a compensation trade deal by which coal would be supplied to Hong Kong from the port of Zhanjiang. If the nuclear power station was built, there would be less need for the coal. It could then be sold to Japan or elsewhere.
5.
At a later point in the conversation Mr Wang reverted to the nuclear power station. He thought this was a good idea and one which should be encouraged by Hong Kong. The Governor said he personally thought the scheme was a good one. If it succeeded it would be just the right sort of major co-operative project. (Mr Wang commented that nuclear power stations lasted for "many decades".) There were of course many technical problems to be settled. These were now being discussed. Hong Kong would, of course, wish to be sure of the reliability of supply from such a source and also of safety if the plant was near Hong Kong. He was taking a personal interest in the project. Sir Lawrence Kadoorie kept in close touch with him. He thought the present discussions were in good and expert hands. The UK had sent a top nuclear expert, Dr Marshall, to take part in the recent talks in Canton.
6.
In answer to a suggestion by DTIC about the possibility of Hong Kong developing "down stream" industries relying on Guangdong's refineries, Mr Wang commented that Guangdong had two
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/contd..
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