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for China to boost confidence in Hong Kong, and agreed to look into the resupplying along China's coastline of Vietnamese boat people: both these points later replayed well in Hong Kong. He and others showed marked scepticism about Vietnamese intentions towards Cambodia, and emphasised the need to maintain pressure on Vietnam's Soviet backers. He did concede, however, that the Russians now appeared to be doing more by way of leaning on the Vietnamese.
4. Zhou Nan showed a small amount of steel only when I raised Tibet informally over lunch. He had understood that Henry Plumb had been as helpful as possible over the Dalai Lamaʼs visit to Strasbourg, amd was grateful for this. But he was very critical of Diana Elles, as was the Chinese Ambassador when I dined with him on Monday. The Tibet issue evidently remains immensely sensitive to the Chinese Government, who have dismissed out of hand the Dalai Lama's latest megaphone diplomacy. We must look very carefully at our future handling of all this. There is no doubt in my own mind that our relationship with China must outweigh a natural sympathy towards a figure like the Dalai Lama.
5. By opening China to me, this visit also made me more aware of the need to avoid seeing all things Chinese through a Hong Kong lens. We obviously must continue to do all we can to get the best deal possible for Hong Kong. But the tail must not wag the dog, and the non-Hong Kong elements of our relationship must get the attention they deserve. For the Chinese Government, Hong Kong is essentially a problem solved, and, while important, is by no means at the top of their list of priorities. We should be engaging them on subjects that are. The economy is one. The Chinese are clearly on the right track with their economic reforms, although the leadership face difficulties, as elsewhere, over the thorny problem of price reform. The market requires, and deserves, great patience and persistence. We must continue to see that businessmen keep at it. We must also exploit Chinese interest in talking to us (as well as others) about a very wide range of international and administrative subjects, even running to the organisation of the Civil Service. And we should encourage our non-Government Sector to develop the excellent work that they are already doing. I visited two such projects involving the Thomson Foundation, which is helping produce China Daily, the English language newspaper, and training Chinese journalists (I hope the ODA will continue to help fund the latter, which is money well spent). I understand there may also be a chance for us to guide the Chinese over the
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?