CONFIDENTIAL
142
001053
MDHIAN 0174
CONFIDENTIAL
FM PEKING
TO DESKBY 25180OZ F C O
TELNO 1077
OF 251644Z JULY 90
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, WASHINGTON
PART TWO OF TWO.
14. TURNING TO THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION LI SAID THAT OVER THE PAST YEAR, THERE HAD BEEN DRASTIC CHANGES IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION. HE DID NOT THINK THAT THIS HAD BROUGHT PEACE AND STABILITY TO THE WORLD: RATHER, IT HAD INTRODUCED MORE TURBULENT FACTORS. MRS. THATCHER BEST UNDERSTOOD THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GERMAN REUNIFICATION AND THE REEMERGENCE OF GERMANY. THE WORLD SITUATION WAS NOT STABLE. THE OLD PATTERN HAD CRUMBLED BUT THE NEW ONE WAS NOT YET IN PLACE. CHINA AND BRITAIN HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP ENSURE PEACE AND STABILITY. FOR THIS, FREQUENT CONTACTS AND EXCHANGES WERE NEEDED.
15. LI THANKED MR. MAUDE FOR HIS NEWS ABOUT CONCESSIONARY FINANCE FOR DANYANG. ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT A BIG STEP, IT WAS NONETHELESS A SYMBOLIC GESTURE.
18. ON VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE, LI SAID THAT MOST ARRIVED IN HONG
KONG BY SEA THOUGH SOME CAME FROM THE MAINLAND. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAD ALREADY TAKEN STRONG MEASURES TO STOP THE LATTER.
IT WAS A VIOLATION OF CHINESE LAW FOR VIETNAMESE TO SNEAK ACROSS
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Redacted under FOI exemption 27(1)|