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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 matters of detail, and there will be many
non-Hong Kong issues to be covered in the short time
available.
3.
The second aspect of the visit will of course be
Sino-British 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.
4.
Against this background, we see the main non-Hong
Kong objectives of the talks with Premier Zhao as:
i) to develop the good personal rapport with the
Premier (bearing in mind also his visit to Britain
planned for 1985);
ii)
to demonstrate our desire that our bilateral
relations, which are already good in theory, should gain
in substance; and in particular.
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