TNAG-1304-FCO40-1660-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1984 — Page 25

QUESTION 20. JOHNATHON MIRSKY, THE OBSERVER, LONDON:

YES,

1 NOTE THAT THERE ARE 10 PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR STATMENT OF PARTICULAR ISSUES AND THEY HAPPEN TO HAVE BEEN THE FAMOUS 10 CHINESE POINTS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, THE 10 CHINESE OFFERS EXACTLY 10 IF YOU COUNT UP THE DASHES. I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW WHAT HAS BEEN SETTLED BY BRITAIN, AND THEN IF YOU INCLUDE THE LIAISON GROUP, CAN YOU SAY HOW SUBSTANTIVALLY IT HAS VARIED FROM WHAT THE CHINESE HAVE HAD ON OFFER FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS?

ANSWER. ON YOUR SECOND POINT, AGAIN I'M NOT IN A POSITION TO DISCLOSE THE NATURE AND PATTERN OF THE NEGOTIATIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE, SAVE TO INDICATE TO YOU SIMPLY THE CONCLUSIONS AT WHICH WE HAVE ARRIVED. JUST AS IT WOULD BE UNFRUITFUL TO SPECULATE ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS IN ADVANCE AND WHILE THEY ARE STILL GOING ON, SO IT WOULD BE EQUALLY UNFRUITFUL TO SPECULATE ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS IN RESPECT OF MATTERS ALREADY AGREED, SO I'VE GIVEN YOU THE POSITION THAT HAS BEEN AGREED ON THAT. SO FAR AS THE 10 POINTS CONTAINED IN MY STATEMENT ARE CONCERNED, I THINK THE ONLY SIGNIFICANCE YOU SHOULD READ INTO THAT IS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COUNT THEM AND WE HAVEN'T BOTHERED. THERE IS NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER

BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF PARAGRAPHS THERE AND ANY PREVIOUS STATEMENTS

OR PROPOSITIONS BY ANYBODY.

QUESTION. IT'S NOT THE NUMBERS I'M TALKING ABOUT. OF COURSE IT'S

NOT THE FACT THERE WERE 10, I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW THIS VARIES FROM THE 10 POINTS THE CHINESE HAVE HAD ON OFFER, NEVER MIND THE EXACT NUMBER OF YOUR PARAGRAPHS.

ANSWER. WELL AGAIN I'M NOT PREPARED TO DISCUSS VARIATIONS BETWEEN WHAT DIFFERENT SIDES HAVE SAID AT DIFFERENT TIMES BECAUSE I

CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR RECOLLECTION

OF 10 CHINESE POINTS AND THE 10 PARAGRAPHS THAT HAPPEN TO APPEAR

IN MY STATEMENT. THE POINTS I'VE COVERED ARE THE POINTS WHICH

I AM IN A POSITION TO SET OUT AS CLEARLY AS I HAVE NOW AND I SUGGEST THAT FURTHER TEXTUAL ARCHEOLOGY WOULD BE UNREWARDING.

QUESTION 21. (IN CHINESE), UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:

YOU SAID THAT YOUR VISIT TO CHINA ACHIEVED A LOT OF RESULTS.

IS THIS GRADUAL PROGRESS OR HAS THERE BEEN A BREAKTHROUGH WHILE YOU

WERE IN CHINA? WHAT SORT OF COMPROMISE DID BRITAIN HAVE TO

UNDERGO?

ANSWER. I'M IN THE PRIVILEGED POSITIO0 OF KNOWING THE QUESTION, I'M SORRY. THE QUESTION WAS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE PROGRESS MADE IN MY NEGOTIATIONS IN PEKING, DOES IT REPRESENT A BREAKTHROUGH: WHAT KIND OF CONCESSIONS DID BRITAIN HAVE TO UNDERGO, THE TRANSLATION WAS. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, AS I SAID EARLIER ON, IS THAT WE HAVE INDEED MADE SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS, SOME SUBSTANTIAL POINTS REMAIN, CERTAINLY WE'VE BROKEN THROUGH ON THE MAIN PROBLEMS. IN ACHIEVING THAT, WE HAVE, AS I SAID EARLIER ON, BEEN WORKING TOGETHER, AS ANY NEGOTIATORS MUST DO, IN A SPIRIT OF GIVE AND TAKE, AND IN DOING THAT WE HAVE BROKEN THROUGH ON THE MAIN PROBLEMS, BUT SUBSTANTIAL POINTS STILL REMAIN.

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QUESTION 22