A catas
programme/where other fuel reserves were scarce and south China
was a suitable area.
was just beginning;
authorities.
Consideration of details such as finance
contact should be with the Guangdong
Gu Mu took the line that the Chinese had already
agreed an exclusive deal with the French which ruled out British
and that the French financial terms had been so
participation;
favourable that China could not refuse them. This account
differed from one given by another senior official two weeks
earlier, who said that no decisions on reactor type or suppliers
could yet be taken. But he warned that contracts would be by
international tender and that China was opposed to safeguards
inspection.
12.
These contacts took place before the joint feasibility
study had been presented. It had been intended that
Mr Parkinson would discuss Chinese reactions to the feasibility
study during his visit to Peking and Canton in late March.
his visit was postponed for parliamentary reasons.
But
This makes
it all the more important for Lord Carrington to indicate to the
Chinese the importance we attach to the project.
Tactics and objectives
13. Lord Carrington will wish to discuss with the Governor of
Hong Kong and the Ambassador which of the Points to Make should
be raised with Foreign Minister Huang Hua and which might be
better discussed with Premier Zhao Ziyang. Sir L Kadoorie will
also expect to be consulted. In principle, as suggested in the
Steering Brief, it seems best to refer to the question in very
general terms with Huang Hua, and attempt to draw a more
substantive response from Premier Zhao. The project falls within
the purview of the State Council; Zhao knows Guangdong well
(he was Party Secretary there before the Cultural Revolution);
any statements by him will carry weight with the Chinese economic
decision-makers.
/13.