CONFIDENTIAL
His own view was that the have played a mediating role. situation in Angola was not lost from the West's point of view.
The Prime Minister said that she understood that Savimbi was a charismatic figure. Unfortunately she was unable to meet him. She frequently heard that the only solution for Angola was for Dos Santos and Savimbi to come to a working arrangement. But this never seemed to come any nearer. Meanwhile the Soviet Union was stepping up its help to the Angolan government. President Soares said that, had there been agreement in Reykjavik, this could have led to a reduction in East/West tensions which might in turn have
The Prime Minister helped promote a settlement in Angola. doubted this. The Soviet Union's public declarations never hindered them from carrying out subversion. The message which the West had to get across in Africa was that African countries could look to the Soviet Union for arms but would go hungry if they depended on them for any other help.
South Africa
The Prime Minister said that it was difficult to see
As both Britain a way forward in South Africa at the present. and Portugal had predicted, additional measures against South Africa were driving President Botha to be more extreme instead of more co-operative. She welcomed the manner in which Britain, Portugal and Germany had been able to work closely together in the European Community for reasonable policies.
President Soares said that the experience of the last two decades in Africa was that it was important to reach agreements early. The longer problems were allowed to run, the
We must greater the risk of losing control of the situation. find ways to convince the South African government that external pressure on it would only grow in the long term. Portugal had supported the line advocated by the United Kingdom and Germany within the EEC and would continue to do so. He had experienced the difficulties of coping with one million refugees from Africa and did not want to face this problem again. But the fact was that a majority in the
The Prime Portuguese parliament supported sanctions.
Minister said that the only course was to continue to press the South African government to release Mandela, unban the ANC and enter into negotiations with black representatives.
Macao
In reply to a question from the Prime Minister, President Soares said that talks with the Chinese government were proceeding satisfactorily but had not yet reached a decisive phase. The Chinese government's statements had been rather general so far and the Portuguese had contented themselves with listening. However there would be a third round of talks in Peking later this month, and the intention was to achieve concrete results by the time of Zhou Nan's visit to
CONFIDENTIAL
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