SECK
ARY OF STATE'S MEETING WITH THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER
BACKGROUND
At a press conference on 23 March the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qian Qichen, said that, in his letter of 6 February to Qian, the Secretary of State had said that if substantive progress were made in
negotiations between the two governments then he (Secretary of State)
would like to meet Qian.
Line to take
As the Secretary of State has said he remains willing to meet
with the Chinese Foreign Minister if such a meeting would be
useful. It is a bit early to judge when the right moment will
be.
SECRETARY OF STATE'S MESSAGE TO THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER OF
6 FEBRUARY
BACKGROUND
At the press conference Qian Qichen went into some detail of the
content of the Secretary of State's message of 6 February to him.
Line to take
The Secretary of State's message to the Chinese Foreign Minister of 6 February was aimed at getting talks under way between the
UK and China to discuss arrangements for the 1994/95 elections
in Hong Kong.
If pressed
Do not want to get into details of diplomatic exchanges.
Source: HKD
24 March 1993