CONFIDENTIAL
DSR 11
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
DRAFT LETTER.
To:- Sir John Hunt GCB
Type 1 +
From
Sir Michael Palliser
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
In Confidence HUA GUOFENG'S VISIT, 30 OCTOBER 3 NOVEMBER: OBJECTIVES
AND BRIEFING
J
1 As you know, Chinese Premier Hua Guofeng will pay an
official visit to this country from 30 October - 3 November,
after visits to France and West Germany. We expect him to
be accompanied by Vice Premier Yu Qiuli, an economics over-
Lord, and Foreign Minister Huang Hua.
2.
This will be the first time a Chinese Prime Minister
has visited Britain, and Hua's first visit to Western Europe.
A visit at this level is unlikely to be repeated for a long
time (Hua is effectively, though not nominally, Head of State
as well as Government). It represents a unique opportunity
for us
to influence and impress Chinese political, economic
and commercial thinking at the highest level.
3.
The timing is particularly appropriate. Since the fall of the Gang of Four and the resurgence of Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leadership have been increasingly Looking to broaden the scope of their political and
commercial cooperation with the West. They see the West
both as a vital ally against the perceived Soviet threat,
and as a vital source of the modern technology they need
for their economic modernisation. As part of this process,
our own bilateral relations with China have thickened
substantially and our bilateral trade and our cooperation
over Hong Kong have both improved. Hua's visit offers us
also the opportunity both to carry this process further, and to make an important contribution to the further strengthening
of the West's overall relationship with China (we have already established informal contacts with the French and
CONFIDENTIAL
/West
Page 60Page 61
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.