:
the Chinese authorising the project to proceed. He said that they
would be received by Gu Mu together with the Vice Premier responsible
for Hong Kong relations, and expected that the Chinese wanted
him in particular to look at their capabilities on civil work for
Castle Peak 'B' and hardware for the pumped storage project. Mr Stones
concluded by saying that CLP had a very important role in the project
and that it could only be self-sufficient in foreign exchange so long
as the Hong Kong dollar existed as a freely convertable currency.
Mr Lippitt then asked about the article that had appeared recently in
the Financial Times allegedly reporting Li Hao as saying that the
Chinese wanted to accelerate the progress of this project. In
response, Mr Havelock and Mr Manzie summarised the telex which had
been received from the British Embassy in Peking saying that the
report was a misinterpretation of Chinese attitudes, and also
indicating strongly that the French remained the favoured vendor for
the nuclear island. Responding to a question from Mr Manzie, Mr Lippitt
said that GEC had made no further approaches to Framatome, but stood
ready to sign the Agreement drawn up between them as soon as HMG
and the French Government gave their approval. Mr Lippitt added
that it was perhaps significant that the French themselves had not
pushed GEC, especially given President Mitterand's decisions on
nuclear policy within France which would probably lead to an even
greater emphasis upon exports. He added that President Mitterand
had mentioned to Lord Weinstock that he was very interested in the
project. Mr Porter then said that uncertainty still existed in
Peking and Guangdong as to whether the French or Americans would be
the favoured supplier: Mr Manzie said that that was exactly why HMG
was keeping both options open. Mr Lippitt asked Mr Manzie whether
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