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field as Byleorussia.
The United Kingdom, in common with
other Western European countries, had put restrictions on imports from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. At the same time we had taken steps to reassure people that our own nuclear power stations were safe. It was important to rebuild confidence in civil nuclear power. This applied equally to opinion in Hong Kong in relation to the Guangdong nuclear power station.
Li Peng said that," in the wake of Chernobyl, people had doubts and apprehensions about civil nuclear power and some wanted to cancel or suspend the Guangdong project. The China Light and Power Company faced many difficulties. He hoped that both Governments, Britain and China, would help the company overcome this difficult period so that the project would not be suspended The Prime Minister agreed that it was important to reassure people's fears in Hong Kong. Hu Yaobang said that China for its part would do what it could in the way of persuasion and explanation.
Sino-Soviet relations
Hu Yaobang said that he would like to volunteer some information on the development of Sino-Soviet relations. Economic exchanges between the two countries were going relatively smoothly. The volume of bilateral trade in the first five months of 1986 was higher than planned. Recently the Soviet Union had come forward with new proposals for providing soft loans to China and setting up joint ventures. It seemed possible therefore that over the next five years the volume of trade would surpass the US $14 billion which had
been set as a target.
So far as political relations were concerned, however,
The there was not the slightest sign of any improvement. Soviet Union proposed summit meetings and signature of hollow documents such as military non-aggression pacts and codes of relations but did not seem to be interested in tackling practical questions. China's position remained that three
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