LIKK04011
RECEIVED IN MENTOR
27 MAR 1984
بهد
Mr. H
Mr. Po
C
-ally
238
HY
FROM:
Miss L P Neville-Jones
2. Taken
Planning Staff
123/3
спать
DATE:
22 March 1984
Hong Kong Dept
Cc:
FED
Security Dept
1. The Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Mr Zheng, gave me lunch yesterday at the Embassy. He had previously called at the department briefly to make
As you know the Chinese have
my acquaintance. proposed that when I go to Tokyo for planning talks that I should go on to Peking. This would follow a pattern established some years ago.
Brihsh/
2. The conversation was very general. I asked what the Chinese view was of the quality of Anglo/ Chinese relations. Mr Zheng (he was accompanied by a First Secretary in the Embassy) said he felt they were steadily improving. He cited some evidence. It was of course, he said, important that the Hong Kong negotiations were successful.
3. I took the opportunity to make the points contained in Mr Thomson's minute of 16 March. It was important for the Chinese to understand that it was in their interests not to create a situation in which the British Parliament felt that they were being rushed. There was also a link between the climate of opinion in Hong Kong and that in Westminster. I was at pains to stress that HMG was not erecting obstacles for the fun of it. Simply, these were the facts of life in a democracy. Mr Zheng listened carefully. As expected he made the point that the negotiations were between two sovereign governments. I replied appropriately.
Ruullhe
Miss L P Neville-Jones
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