BY BAG
CONFIDENTIAL
布政司署
香港下亞
畢道
本署檔號 OUR REF.: SCR 1/2/4841/66
來阳檔號 YOUR REF.:
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
аккоголь
RECEIVED IN KEGISTRY KO. 51
18 MAR 1981
CO Hum Esq PEKING
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
AW
23 February 1981
182
J27.2.
jos
10.1.
SNIPPETS ON CHINESE POLITICS
Please refer to my letter of 22 January on Hua Guofeng (not copied to HK & GD). I have some further snippets from the same source, T C Wu, though in this case they are not direct but were passed on to me on a personal basis by Nancy Nash (please protect both sources). Wu had recently been in Peking and said that a lot of changes were in the wind. That much is obvious. Nancy's particular interest was to do with WWF and whether they should sell their panda painting with Hua's inscription on it. Apparently, the WWF delegation that was recently in Peking was told by Wang Menhu of the Forestry Ministry that there would be no problem provided the attribution made it clear that Hua's message was inscribed when on an official visit to the UK as Prime Minister (and was, therefore, part of the historical record). However, Wu, despite his earlier remarks to me, now said that WWF would be ill-advised to use Hua's inscription. He did not elaborate but the implication was either that Hua would come pretty badly out of the present manoeuverings or that in the medium term he was likely to come in for pointed public criticism. He told Nancy as an added point that Hua was being criticised for being too free with his calligraphy
+
2.
A further point of interest which also involved WWF is, that Li Chaobo, Director of the Environmental Protection Office and also a Vice Minister of the State Capital Construction Commission, now reports to Han Guang instead of Vice Premier Gu Mu. Wu and Nancy both believe that this is partly as a result of problems which Li has had with WWF. There have certainly been problems: in essence, WWF International browbeat Li during what was orginally conceived as a ceremonial visit to their headquarters in Switzerland last year into signing an addendum to the WWF/China protocol on the giant panda project.. This was not well worded (and in my own view quite unnecessary) and on return to Peking Li found that despite being signed the addendum would not bi ratified by the Chine side. It has now been dropped. Wu said that all Li's decisions are
CONFIDENTIAL
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