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Kong, as the Governor points out, and on balance I think
the risks of a Zhou visit in 1987 outweigh the advantages.
The best approach might be to pencil in
to pencil in a possible visit by
Zhou in 1988 and float the idea with him in the course of
next year.
Wu Xueqian himself would theoretically be
His visit would
another candidate for an invitation.
however be a major political event, and again this would
not seem to be opportune next year.
On the other hand
there could be an argument for inviting less "political"
figures and exposing them to the reality of Hong Kong.
draft telegram seeks the Governor's views as a basis for
further consideration.
The
e) Conclusions
14.
In the light of all the above considerations my
are as follows:
conclusions
State
be
i) opportunities for
for contacts between the Secretary of
and Wu Xueqian should
actively sought.
The possible visit to Japan by the Secretary of
State in May/June and Wu's Eastern European trip in
June/July may offer openings. The General Assembl y
in September will be another opportunity. Hong
Kong considerations suggest that Wu's official
visit to Britain might best fall in the autumn of
1987, when Hong Kong's views on issues raised by
the review will be crystallising. (I recognise
however that there are electoral uncertainties.);
ii) all other events and their timing will be dependent
on contacts at Ministerial level. But the Governor
might plan provisionally for further visits to
Peking in March and October: for all the reasons
discussed above a third visit in June may be less
desirable;
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