11 (Revised)
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DRAFT: X/letter/ticker/despatch/hote
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PRIME MINISTER
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SUBJECT: VISIT TO CHINA, HONG KONG AND JAPAN
1.
.In Confidence
CAVEAT..
Enclosures-flag(s)......
I am
When I visited Peking in April, I told the Chinese
with your agreement that you hoped to visit China during
1982, as a return for Hua Guofeng's visit in 1979.
sure that a visit to China would be an excellent move in
the context of our relations with China and our inter-
national position as a whole, and I believe that a visit
to Japan at the same time would be essential and would have
almost as great importance. I know that you have it in mind, subject to your other commitments, to carry out this visit in September 1982, and we have tentatively ear-
marked the period between 16 and 29 September.
2.
Humphrey Atkins will be in both Peking and Tokyo in
the first part of January, and can expect to be asked about possible dates for your visit. Unless he can give a rather
more precise reply than I was able to, there is a danger
that our preferred month of September may become congested
with other visits, both for the Chinese and for the
Japanese; indeed we have heard that Mr Suzuki may himself
be contemplating a visit to Peking in September. I suggest therefore that during his visit Humphrey Atkins should take the opportunity of putting down a marker both with the
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