PLANNING PAPER ON CHINA
SUMMARY
CONFIDENTIAL
1. Chinese society and culture have always been remarkably self- contained. In some respects, this is still the case, although the Communist revolution has brought many changes. Nevertheless, China occupies a key
position in the world today.
2. China matters to us because of Hong Kong, because of her export of Chinese-style Communism, because of her potential as a trading partner and because of our common interest in containing Soviet expansionism. Current Chinese activities in Asia and Africa do not pose great problems for the West, though the achievement of her long-term aims there would be inimical to our interests.
3. Even if there should be a measure of Sino-Soviet rapprochement after Mao's death, it would be unlikely to result in significant policy changes or convince the Russians that their Eastern frontier had become totally secure. There should still be possibilities for other powers to exploit and the Chinese would need to go on expanding foreign trade and to buy technology and industrial plant.
4.
There are important differences between the Chinese and British views of the world, but in certain key areas our national interests are at worst complementary and at best very similar. In spite of several difficulties we have opportunities to earn money and goodwill by selling the Chinese sophisticated military equip- ment. There is
There is a strong case for re-examining the relevance of COCOM to China's present circumstances.
5. More generally, we should try to encourage China in her present friendly stance, often in concert with our EEC partners. While justifying Western détente policies to China, we should show ourselves fully alert to the threat of Soviet expansion. We should also encourage the Chinese to take a realistic view of the world and to have closer contacts with the West.
CONFIDENTIAL
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