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Well we're always in touch at all levels.
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Do you think his arrival in Peking will signal a new, more friendly atmosphere in Sino-British relations?
Well I have no doubt that both China and Britain want
to enhance good relationships. We've had a slight hiatus over the last couple of years because of what has happened. We want to improve on that. That is why the Secretary of State went to Peking, that was one of the reasons was to try and improve the relationship, put forward some suggestions as to how this could be done. Both sides want that. What we are having a little bit of difficulty with which we've been discussing is the technicalities about the airport in
Hong Kong.
Will Mr McLaren's arrival in Peking signal a new sort of diplomatic initiative of the airport issue?
Well it gives us another forum. When one doesn't have an Ambassador there because there's a change it always helps to have an Ambassador. Now we've got him he's a very very experienced man with China, a very good negotiator, so I think that he'll be enormously beneficial to Britain's interests and to our relationship.
It
One thing that people in Hong Kong are very concerned about is the secrecy surrounding the airport talks. is a vital issue for Hong Kong and they feel frustrated because they don't know what's going on. Now isn't there an argument to make the details of the talks more public so people know where they stand?
Yes, there is an argument but there's a stronger argument for saying that when you're in discussions of this sort if you make the whole thing public then you