MADAFG
CONFIDENTIAL covering SECRET
COPY ON HOPPERS
HKB 243 /13
FROM:
A R Paul
RECEIVED IN RECISTRY
15 MAR 1990
Hong Kong Department
DESI
INDEX
DATE:
14 March 1990
Cc:
PS/Lord Brabazon
PS/PUS
Mr Gillmore
Mr McLaren
Mr Warren, FED Special Advisers
PS/Mr Maude
Private Secretary
CALL ON THE PRIME MINISTER BY THE CHINESE AMBASSADOR, 16 MARCH
FILE,
25
1.
I submit a draft Private Secretary letter to No 10 providing briefing for the Chinese Ambassador's call on the Prime Minister at
1500 on 16 March.
2. FED have been consulted about the passage on Sino British relations. The draft has also been shown in draft to Mr McLaren; his comments have been incorporated.
AR Panc
Paul
A R Paul
CONFIDENTIAL covering SECRET
Daco Q
C D Powell Esq
10 Downing Street
London
Da
SECRET
CALL ON THE PRIME MINISTER BY THE CHINESE AMBASSADOR
The Prime Minister has invited the Chinese Ambassador to come
The purpose in for a talk on Hong Kong at 1500 on Friday, 16 March. of the meeting is
to underline to the Chinese Government the need for Chinese help in promoting confidence in Hong Kong;
in particular to persuade them to desist from adverse public comment on our nationality package; to support the Port and Airport Development Strategy (PADS); and to help to prevent Vietnamese boat people transitting China en route to Hong Kong;
-
to draw attention to Lord Young's forthcoming visit to China and to make it clear that it has our support.
Ambassador Ji is an effective and sophisticated operator, who has put up a skillful defence of his government's policies though he
He is likely to press is sceptical about some of them in private.
for a resumption of full bilateral relations, although he doubtless understands the limitations imposed by continued public concern about repression in China and by the commitments we have undertaken with our EC and Western partners
(a)
Sino-British Relations
The Prime Minister may wish to begin by referring to her
ALIAAJ
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Ꭰ.
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message to General Secretary Jiang Zemin, delivered by Sir Percy Cradock during his visit to China in December, which stressed our desire to see a return to better bilateral relations.
The Prime
Minister could also seek to counter unfounded Chinese suspicions that we have recently been trying to delay the relaxation of Western measures against China, for example at the Dublin European Council. As evidence of our wish to see progress towards the normalisation of relations she could point to:
our agreement with Western partners to a resumption of World Bank lending to China (for the moment only for "humanitarian needs" projects);
our agreement with EC partners to lift the suspension of normal export credit cover for China: ECGD has been among the first of the European agencies to resume cover;
our decision to confirm soft loan support for the £30 million Peking Metro Project; and
the recent visit to China by Lord Sharp, who emphasised Britain's continued interest in commercial relations with
China.
The Prime Minister may also wish to stress that in the face of considerable domestic and political criticism. we have maintained many areas of cooperation including normal trade contacts, scholarships for Chinese students and the English language teaching programme in China.
(b) Hong Kong
Since our nationality package was announced on 20 December, the Chinese Government have made a number of unhelpful statements
a violation of the Joint Declaration and a denouncing the scheme as
They device to maintain British influence in Hong Kong after 1997. have tried to undermine the scheme by indicating that recipients of British passports would not be eligible for British consular protection in Hong Kong after 1997 and by extending the nationality qualification for posts in the SAR Government laid down in the Basic Law. The Chinese Government have also cor ›lained on a number of occasions about our attempt to "internationalise" the Hong Kong ALIAAJ
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