07 JUN '91 11:38
F.7
Zeng Pe that I saw and the Secretary of State saw the
Party Chairman and the Foreign Minister.
2: Apart from actually making verbal protests,
A:
Q:
condemnation, you are not taking any substantial or any
other action like sanctions or anything?
You know that is precisely what we did do in the European Community. We imposed certain restrictions and that is something that has gone since then and the important thing one has to bear in mind is that it would be very easy to isolate China again. China has been well renowned in the past for being very
isolationist, not wanting anything to do with the
outside world. The fact is the world is now such a
small place that one mustn't drive China into being
what som e isolationist again, that is of the extremists in
China want. And I think that would be retrograde for
China and it would certainly be retrograde for the
people in Hong Kong. What we should do and what we do do therefore is to make our point forcibly in the
communications that we have with China. We want to
develop those communications. We are after all both
members of the Permanent Five, where there has been a
lot of work in the United Nations, we have worked well
with China in the Middle East, on Cambodia where there
is still a lot of progress to be made. But the fact that we actually got an agreement through the P5 which was put to the United Nations and was agreed without discussion, a resolution on Cambodia agreed without discussion, passed on the nod, first time in 11 years,
showed that that was Britain and China and the other
members of the P5 initially working together. Now we cannot drag China into an isolated position but you must make your points clearly where you believe you've got a
right to do so.
Can you believe just by having verbal protests it will