CONFIDENTIAL
RECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE GENERAL
SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST
PARTY, MR. HU YAOBANG, AT NO.10 DOWNING STREET ON MONDAY 9
JUNE AT 1600
*
Prime Minister
Foreign and Commonwealth
Secretary
H.M. Ambassador, Peking
Sir Percy Cradock
Dr. David Wilson
Mr. Charles Powell
Hu Yaobang (General Secretary)
Li Peng (Vice-Premier)
Zhou Nan (Vice-Minister)
Hu Dingyi (Ambassador)
Mei Zhaorong (Head of West
European Department, MFA)
Zhang Zouyun (Chinese Embassy)
The Prime Minister welcomed Hu Yaobang and asked him to convey her greetings to Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang. She
was pleased to see a number of familiar faces in the Chinese
delegation, notably Zhou Nan. She recalled well her own
visits to China and how greatly she had enjoyed them.
Hu Yaobang said that he was very glad to be able to visit
Britain. He looked forward to an exchange of views with the
Prime Minister.
Hong Kong
A
The Prime Minister suggested that the discussion might begin with Hong Kong. Both the United Kingdom and China were anxious to ensure Hong Kong's continued prosperity. We were pleased that the Joint Liaison Group had made such a good
start. It was important to work to maintain confidence in Hong Kong's future. She knew that people in Hong Kong were reassured by the growing legal framework in China to protect individual rights. We were aware of the need for prudence in the development of the structure of government in Hong Kong, particularly in the context of the review of Government on the
systems in 1987. In general we took the view that the Joint
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