CONFIDENTIAL
I have made some minor amendments to this minute and to the note on members of the Chinese team.
1.
2.
The
Mr Maude will have Ambassador Ke on his right and the Chinese Ambassador in London on his left. As the Personality Note indicates, Ke can be a bit silent on social occasions, but he is a cultivated man and can carry on a conversation in quite reasonable English when circumstances require. Chinese Ambassador is sophisticated and thoroughly Westernised - brought up in the United States and a former interpreter for Chou En-lai. He speaks pretty frankly about events in China in private, but will probably not want to do so with so many colleagues around.
3.
It would be useful if Mr Maude could get across the points in paragraph 3 above; he may also want to talk about his impressions of the current mood in Hong Kong following his visit there. A speech on the lines suggested would be fine. But, if Mr Maude preferred, it would be equally acceptable for him to make a more informal speech, making some of the same points without a text.
25 September 1989
Cc: Mr Martin, HKD
CONFIDENTIAL
R J T McLaren