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between the two
I
as Vienna).
travel to Japan
Britain, or at least with a meeting
Ministers in a European capital (such
understand that the Secretary of State may
in the first part of next year,
next year, perhaps at Whitsun. This
would provide a good opportunity, and favourable timing,
for a stopover in Peking. Later in the year there will
probably be the
customary meeting at the General Assembly
in September.
6.
This timing must be considered against the timetable
for the review of representative government in Hong Kong.
A Green Paper will be published in April or May 1987, and a
White Paper before the end of the year. We shall certainly
wish to explain to the Chinese in advance of publication of
the Green Paper (though not necessarily on a ministerial
channel) how issues are to be presented. Later in the year
we shall no doubt want to explain to the Chinese how the
review exercise is turning out and what we envisage will
have to be put into the White Paper.
If there are
potential problems over direct elections there may well be
a need for direct contact between the Secretary of State
and Wu.
This could well mean a visit to Peking: or Wu's
visit to Britain could be opportune.
7.
is
Another possible Ministerial channel
that between
Mr Renton and Zhou Nan.
There are plans for Mr Renton to
visit Hong Kong next Spring, and he could go on to Peking.
But at present is is not clear that issues will be ripe at
that stage for Ministerial discussion, and Zhou's personal
intransigence over the issues involved
is a further
negative factor.
b) Travel by the Governor to Peking
8.
The
Governor suggests that three-monthly visits to
Peking (in fact in March, June and October) would keep open
a useful channel of communication for discussion of a
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