TNAG-1257-FCO40-1590-Third-countries-and-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 96

1

CONFIDENTIAL

4.

The Japanese also commented briefly to me on this general subject.

The Director-General of the European Affairs Bureau, Mr Kato (previously Minister in Peking) said that China did not fully understand the need for a balance of power in Asia, or comprehend that it would be a disaster for the world if the Soviet Union and China were to form an alliance and dominate the Eurasian land mass. This was a great danger. We also had an interesting debate with some Japanese academics on the alternative theories that the Chinese might in practice prefer Soviet technology because it was cheaper and aroused less expectations in the Chinese consumer than Western technology, and that on the contrary the Chinese always sought the best and could not politically go too far towards accepting favours from the Soviet Union. I believe that informed Japanese may be more tempted by the first theory and see a probability of increase in flows of Soviet technology to China.

Markelish

1 November 1983

M Elliott

CONFIDENTIAL

Far Eastern Department