dealing with Far Eastern affairs in the FCO. We
propose, if the Prime Minister agrees, to ask him to
come back for about a week so that he could attend the
28 July meeting. There should be no undue speculation
about this. It would be perfectly normal for the PM
to get the views of the Governor before such an
important visit.
1
3. There is one other point on Hong Kong.
As you
know, the Prime Minister is due to have dinner with the
Chinese Ambassador on 12 July. This is a gesture of
courtesy and is now the custom whenever particularly
distinguished British visitors go to China. On such
occasions it is not usually the Chinese practice to
discuss substantive bilateral business, especially
if the issues are contentious. But the Prime Minister
might like to ask the Ambassador about the current
position in China and the Chinese view of international
questions, including Soviet policy. It would probably
be best to steer clear of the Falklands issue since
T
the Chinese Government took a pro-Argentine line
(based on their general interest in support for a
Third World' country).
4. The Chinese have incidentally made clear that they
see Hong Kong as a different problem from the
Falklands, to be settled by peaceful negotiation at
the right time. However, I do not think that there
would be advantage in raising the question of the
future of Hong Kong on this occasion. If, rather
against the odds, the Ambassador seemed to want to
probe our position, the Prime Minister might take the
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