TNAG-1156-FCO40-1436-Visits-by-FCO-Ministers-to-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 164

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bilateral issues.

They had reached agreement in many areas;

in fact there were no problems in Sino-North Korean relations. Consequently there was not much to say about Zhao's visit.

12.

Mr Atkins remarked that one difficulty in the task

of reunification was the question of what the people of Korea

actually wanted. It seemed that there was, at the moment,

no basis for reunification, and it was likely that there would

be two Koreas for some time yet. He asked whether the Chinese

would be going to South Korea for the Olympics in 1988 - but

did not press this question. Mr Atkins then asked whether the

Chinese had detected signs of Soviet influence in North Korea.

Mr Zhang replied that there was no doubt that Korea would be

reunified in the future, though this might take time. The

North Koreans had diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union,

and various ties, such as trade and economic. Seen from this

angle, there was Soviet influence in North Korea. But under

President Kim's leadership North Korea pursued a policy of

'self-reliance, self-sustenance and self-defence'. They

pursued an independent policy and made their own decisions;

they would not follow others blindly.

13.

Mr Atkins remarked that, since no change seemed likely

for some time, the British view was that both North and South

Korea should become members of the UN together. It was of

course possible for two separate countries to unite if they

wished to do so. Senegal and Gambia had decided very recently

to do just this. Mr Zhang replied that this was a problem for

the Korean people to decide. China respected the views of the

DPRK.

Sino-Indian Relations

14.

In response to a question from Mr Atkins Mr Zhang

said that Sino-Indian relations were now better than they had

been. Official talks had been held in December. The atmosphere

had been friendly and the attitude of the two sides had been

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/positive,