RESTRICTED
FM PEKING
TO DESKBY 1409OOZ F C O
TELNO 1285
OF 140816Z AUGUST 91
RESTRICTED
HKD 021/1
2 8 AUG 1991
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG, UKREP JLGI HONG KONG, TOKYO
27
001034
MDHIAN 8779
P.W. Iur Suppo
Japan file
(iz
nor already filed
thee
PZ...
FCO TELNO 878: PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT: JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT.
·
✓ 1918
1 THE JAPANESE EMBASSY IS STILL PREOCCUPIED WITH PRIME MINISTER KAIFU WHO WILL RETURN TO CHINA FOR SOME THREE HOURS ON 14 AUGUST AFTER VISITING MONGOLIA. IT WILL BE SOME DAYS THEREFORE BEFORE WE ARE ABLE TO GET A BRIEFING FROM THEM. IN THE MEANTIME, YOU MAY FIND IT USEFUL TO HAVE DETAILS OF THE PROTOCOL/CEREMONIAL ASPECTS OF THE VISIT, AS GLEANED FROM THE PRESS, DIPLOMATIC COLLEAGUES AND THE CHINESE.
2. KAIFU ARRIVED ON 10 AUGUST. HE WAS RECEIVED IN THE STANDARD WELCOMING CEREMONY OUTSIDE THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE. THERE WAS A FULL HONOUR GUARD, A 19 GUN SALUTE, AND PRESENTATION OF BOUQUETS TO MR AND MRS KAIFU. THERE FOLLOWED TALKS AND A DINNER HOSTED BY PREMIER LI PENG. THERE WERE NO SPEECHES AND NO FORMAL TOASTS. ON SUNDAY 11 AUGUST, KAIFU LAID A WREATH AT THE MONUMENT TO THE PEOPLES'S HEROES IN TIANANMEN SQUARE. ALTHOUGH IN RECENT YEARS THIS MONUMENT HAS BECOME ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEMONSTRATIONS OF 1976 AND 1989, IT IN FACT COMMEMORATES THOSE WHO FELL IN THE CCP'S STRUGGLE FOR POWER AND IN THE SINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT. ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS, THE RIBBON ON THE WREATH READ ''THE HEROES OF THE PEOPLE ARE IMMORTAL''
體
3. IN ADDITION TO HIS TALKS WITH LI PENG, KAIFU MET JIANG ZEMIN AND YANG SHANGKUN, AND ISSUED INVITATIONS TO BOTH TO VISIT JAPAN AT UNSPECIFIED DATES. AT A PRESS CONFERENCE, HE CONFIRMED THAT THE QUESTION OF AN IMPERIAL VISIT TO CHINA HAD BEEN RAISED, BUT THAT NO SPECIFIC COMMITMENT AS TO DATES HAD BEEN MADE BY THE JAPANESE.
4. OTHER EVENTS INCLUDED A SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE RECENTLY OPENED SINO-JAPANESE YOUTH EXCHANGE CENTRE, A PRESS CONFERENCE AND A DINNER HOSTED BY KAIFU. THIS WAS DESCRIBED BY THE JAPANESE AS A RETURN BANQUET, BUT LI PENG DID NOT ATTEND.
MCLAREN
PAGE RESTRICTED
1