BACKGROUND
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1. Lord Shawcross has visited China on several occasions, both
privately and on behalf of Morgan Guaranty for which he is a special
adviser. The Chinese pay him special attention. He is in close
touch with the Chinese Embassy and has been received in China at a high level.
2. Lord Shawcross has a keen interest in Hong Kong, where the
Morgan Bank is active. Following a visit there last autumn (during
which he took a line generally helpful to HMG) Lord Shawcross asked
Mr Pym for an assessment of the Hong Kong situation on 17 December
1982.
3. Lord Shawcross was subsequently briefed on Hong Kong by Mr
Giffard on 28 April 1983 before visiting China in May as the guest
of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. During that
visit Lord Shawcross met Assistant Foreign Minister Zhou Nan, who
spoke about Hong Kong's future, and to whom Lord Shawcross pointed
up the importance of maintaining confidence in Hong Kong.
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