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BRITISH EMBASSY,
PEKING.
JDI Boyd Esq CMG
DUSS
F CO
Dear John,
CHINESE FOREIGN POLICY
1.
8 May 1989
Miss Manson Мономерный Mr Forman 1115 Miss
papl
се
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I am conscious that we have not sent any comprehensive think-piece on Chinese foreign policy over the past eighteen months. Thinking it was time that we should up-date the analysis in Richard Evans' Despatch of the autumn of 1987, Alyson Bailes has drawn together several points which we have made recently in telegrams and letters in separate contexts. The most recent was some thoughts on Sino-Soviet relations in anticipation of the Gorbachev visit next week.
2.
I am therefore sending you her note in view of your forthcoming visit to China. You may find it a useful quarry for ideas to bounce off your interlocutors. I must emphasise at this stage that it does not represent a collective Embassy view here. It attempts to be self-contained and has a fairly limited focus in time. Alyson and I would see it as a "snap-shot" trying to pick out the latest trends and events in order to see if they can be set in a sensible pattern.
3.
The paper starts and ends with Asia. I am always conscious of how far Chinese foreign policy stems from China's internal needs and preoccupations. Indeed most countries' foreign policies reflect the domestic requirements first. The paper looks at the wider aspects only to the extent necessary to set China's regional ambitions in context. It therefore does not
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