CONFIDENTIAL
agreed. He said that New Zealand would be happy to see the situation
resolved so that they could get back into some sort of relationship
with Argentina, if only to talk to them about resuming the polar air
route which had proved profitable to New Zealand.
Hong Kong
5. Mr Whitney explained the background to the negotiations with
the Chinese over the future of Hong Kong, and emphasised the con-
fidentiality of the talks and the need to do or say nothing that
would upset confidence in Hong Kong. He hoped that Mr Norrish would understand the limitations on what he could say to him. He emphasised that Britain did not benefit economically from Hong Kong; it was simply a case of recognising our responsibilities. Mr Norrish said
that he appreciated the sensitivity of the issue. He had visited Shenzhen recently, and thought that it had a long way to go. He had visited two factories, one making containers which was very good, and the other a printing works which was very poor and totally lacking in any modern machinery, He was singularly unimpressed with
the zone and China's claims for it. He asked that we continue to
keep New Zealand informed on developments as best we could.
Distribution
PS/Lady Young
PS/Mr Whitney
PS/PUS
Mr Giffard
Mr Donald
SPD
FID
HKD
UND
Dept of Trade, OT2
BHC, WELLINGTON
3
CONFIDENTIAL