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B & C
D
need a continuing flow of authoritative information in a readily assimilable form. China's recent history shows that changes in orientation can be rapid and it is desirable for our officials to maintain a good level of understanding whether the Chinese are generally more friendly to the West or not. The Chinese attack on Vietnam has added a new factor of political uncertainty and we shall always need background on the development of Chinese economic policy which can be put to practical use.
and
5.
The PRU is in a good position to monitor from Hong Kong trends on the mainland which require linguistic /analytical skill. Since the PRU's product is required for official purposes, it makes sense to use the information by-product.
6.
The Chinese undoubtedly know about the PRU's activities and must also be aware of other productions by OID. There has been no complaint from the Chinese Government about these and indeed none seems likely since they stick very closely to published sources.
7.
The anomaly remains the regular production of China Record without attribution. Although few journalists, academics and MPs in the UK have complained about no longer receiving this, there are good arguments in favour of making it available in order to raise the level of knowledge of Chinese affairs. This is in accordance with the Secretary of State's views on this matter and the Government's commitment to more open government.
8.
As against this it is just possible that the Chinese would criticise the publishing of material on their internal affairs. (The British Embassy in Peking and the Political Adviser in Hong Kong were consulted about possible Chinese reaction to publication: their original replies were somewhat equivocal although Mr. George has recently commented that the Embassy would "hesitate to have it attributed to the FCO".) If there was criticism it could be explained to the Chinese as a wholly reasonable exercise and one which at present reflects the interest (and good relations) manifest in
Britain.
9.
The possibility of issuing material on more sensitive issues unattributably would of course remain.
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