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IN 1997. LIKE BRITAIN, CHINA HAD ITS OWN VALUES. IF BRITAIN TRIED TO IMPOSE WESTERN VALUES ON CHINA, THAT WOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE.
6.
THE VICE PREMIER SAID THAT IN ITS FOREIGN POLICY, CHINA PURSUED AN INDEPENDANT POLICY OF PEACE. IN ITS ECONOMIC POLICY IT
WAS CARRYING OUT THE PRESENT POLICY OF REFORM AND OPENING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. IN THE PAST, CHINESE ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY INCLUDING BRITAIN HAD BEEN CONDUCTED ON THE
BASIS OF EQUALITY AND MUTUAL BENEFIT. THIS WAS UNCHANGED. IT WAS
HIGH TIME FOR THE WESTERN COUNTRIES INCLUDING BRITAIN TO MAKE
JOINT EFFORTS TO NORMALISE AND DEVELOP RELATIONS IN THAT SPIRIT.
CHINA'S SOCIALIST MODERNISATION COULD NOT BE ACHEIVED IN A '' CLOSED DOOR SITUATION''. THE POLICY OF ''ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS DEVELOPED FOR HONG KONG WAS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE DOOR''
''OPEN
IN ONE PARTICULAR CASE. HE CLOSED WITH AN APPEAL FOR CALM
AND SOBER THINKING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
7. DR OWEN SPOKE OF THE NEED FOR GOOD FRIENDS TO RESPECT EACH OTHER'S VIEWS EVEN WHEN THEY DIFFERED. IN ADDITION TO THE FEELINGS ENDUCED BY 4 JUNE THERE WERE OTHER IMPORTANT CHANGES IN THE WORLD E.G. IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION WHICH HAD SET A CLIMATE WHICH HAD INFLUENCED OPINION IN HONG KONG. IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR THE UK GOVERNMENT TO IGNORE THIS. EVEN WHEN THE EVENTS OF 4 JUNE HAD PASSED INTO MEMORY, THERE WOULD STILL BE PRESSURE FOR A GREATER ELEMENT OF DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATION IN HONG KONG - MORE THAN ANYONE HAD THOUGHT IN THE 1980S. HE APPEALD TO THE CHINESE NOT TO BOLT THE DOOR AGAINST FURTHER ARGUMENT.
8.
IN CONCLUSION, DR OWEN SPOKE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S GENUINE WISH TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING WITH CHINA.
9.
VICE PREMIER WU, WHO HAD THROUGHOUT BEEN HIS USUAL COURTEOUS SELF, ENDED BY SAYING THAT DESPITE CURRENT DIFFERENCES HE WAS ''GENERALLY OPTIMISTIC'' FOR THE FUTURE.
DONALD
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