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WERE TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. FIRST, THE BASIC LAW WHICH WAS NOW
BEING DRAFTED. HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT BOTH HONG KONG AND THE UK
WOULD BE SATISFIED WITH IT. SECOND, THE HANDOVER IN 1997. IF A
GOOD JOB WAS DONE WORKING OUT THE BASIC LAW THIS WOULD GUARANTEE
A SMOOTH HANDOVER. IN DISCUSSING THE EFFECTS OF THE NUCLEAR
ACCIDENT AT CHERNOBYL, MINISTERS STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF RE-ASSURING PEOPLE IN HONG KONG ABOUT THE VENTURE INVOLVING CHINESE, FRENCH, BRITISH AND HONG KONG ELEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AT DAYA BAY NEAR HONG KONG.
BOTH SIDES NOTED THAT THE REACTOR SYSTEM TO BE USED WOULD BE
SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT AT CHERNOBYL AND SIMILAR TO
THOSE EXTENSIVELY INSTALLED IN FRANCE.
6. MINISTERS ALSO DISCUSSED EAST-WEST RELATIONS AND THE
PROSPECTS FOR A FURTHER UNITED STATES/SOVIET UNION SUMMIT AS WELL
AS CHINA'S RELATIONS WITH THE SOVIET UNION. HU YAOBANG SAID THAT
ECONOMIC EXCHANGES BETWEEN CHINA AND THE USSR WERE GOING
RELATIVELY SMOOTHLY AND THAT BILATERAL TRADE SO FAR THIS YEAR WAS
AT HIGHER LEVELS THAN PLANNED. THE SOVIET UNION HAD RECENTLY
COME FORWARD WITH NEW PROPOSALS FOR SOFT LOANS TO CHINA AND JOINT
VENTURES. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THE VOLUME OF TRADE MIGHT
THEREFORE SURPASS THE US DOLLARS 14 BILLION TARGET. SO FAR AS
HOWEVER, THERE WAS NOT THE
POLITICAL RELATIONS WERE CONCERNED,
SLIGHTEST SIGN OF ANY IMPROVEMENT. CHINA WAS SINCERE IN WORKING
TO IMPROVE RELATIONS SO THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES COULD AT LEAST BE
GOOD NEIGHBOURS. BUT THE SOVIET UNION ONLY INDULGED IN
UNFRIENDLY ACTIONS, MADE HOLLOW PROPOSALS AND WAS NOT INTERESTED
IN TACKLING PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. TO ENTER INTO AN ALLIANCE WITH
THE SOVIET UNION WAS SIMPLY OUT OF THE QUESTION. DENG XIAOPING
HAD SAID THAT A SUMMIT MEETING MIGHT BE CONSIDERED IF THE SOVIET
UNION WERE TO RELAX ITS POSITION ON CAMBODIA. BUT THIS CONDITION
HAD NOT BEEN FULFILLED. CAMBODIA SHOULD BE NEUTRAL AND
NON-ALIGNED, IT DID NOT HAVE TO BE SOCIALIST. CHINA WOULD NEVER
ACCEPT VIETNAM'S INVASION OF CAMBODIA. TURNING TO AFGHANISTAN,
HU YAOBANG SAID THAT THE SOVIET UNION APPEARED MORE ANXIOUS TO
ACT HERE THAN ON CAMBODIA. CHINA HAD BEEN ASKED AT LEAST THREE
TIMES BY THE USSR TO MEDIATE. THEY HAD REPLIED THERE WAS NOTHING
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