CONFIDENTIAL
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207
HKK 040/57
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
5 DEC 1984
DESK QFFICER
INDEX
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
29 November, 1984
REGISTRY
PA
Action Taken
A lan
I have was
read & FED
Jear Charles,
12
Visit by the Prime Minister to Peking and Hong Kong
Briefing
I promised in paragraph 6 of my letter of 14 November to submit more detailed proposals on the briefing to be provided for the Prime Minister for her talks with Chinese leaders. For convenience this letter also covers briefing for the Hong Kong visit.
The Visit to Peking
The centrepiece of the Peking visit will be the signature of the Hong Kong agreement. We would also expect Hong Kong to occupy a prominent position in the formal talks. There are a number of general points which the Prime Minister will no doubt wish to make. These will include our determination to carry out scrupulously our side of the agreement (and our expectation that the Chinese are committed to doing the same); our wish to co-operate closely within the Joint Liaison Group over the implementation of the agreement; and our perception of concerns in Hong Kong. However, we do not think it will be desirable or necessary to go into detail, and there will be many non-Hong Kong issues to be covered in the short time available.
The second aspect of the visit will of course be Anglo-Chinese relations, and in particular trade. It will be important, within the constraints of a short visit with the agreement at centre stage, for the Prime Minister to give positive signals. Against this, it will be presentationally important, especially for Hong Kong consumption, not to give commentators any opportunity to claim that we have been influenced in our conduct of the Hong Kong negotiations by hopes of commercial gain. This precludes a high public profile for commercial matters during the visit; but at the same time trade can be promoted strongly in private talks.
Against this background, we see the main non-Hong Kong objectives of the talks with Premier Zhao as:
CONFIDENTIAL
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