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ield as Byleorussia.
The United Kingdom, in common with
other Western European countries, had put restrictions on imports from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. At the same time we had taken steps to reassure people that our own
nuclear power stations were safe. It was important to rebuild confidence in civil nuclear power. This applied equally to
opinion in Hong Kong in relation to the Guangdong nuclear
power station.
Li Peng said that, in the wake of Chernobyl, people had
doubts and apprehensions about civil nuclear power and some
wanted to cancel or suspend the Guangdong project. The China Light and Power Company faced many difficulties. He hoped that both Governments, Britain and China, would help the company overcome this difficult period so that the project would not be suspended. The Prime Minister agreed that it was
important to reassure people's fears in Hong Kong. Hu Yaobang said that China for its part would do what it could in the way of persuasion and explanation.
Sino-Soviet relations
Hu Yaobang said that he would like to volunteer some
information on the development of Sino-Soviet relations. Economic exchanges between the two countries were going
relatively smoothly. The volume of bilateral trade in the first five months of 1986 was higher than planned. Recently
the Soviet Union had come forward with new proposals for
providing soft loans to China and setting up joint ventures.
It seemed possible therefore that over the next five years the
volume of trade would surpass the US $14 billion which had
been set as a target.
So far as political relations were concerned, however,
there was not the slightest sign of any improvement. The
Soviet Union proposed summit meetings and signature of hollow
documents such as military non-aggression pacts and codes of
relations but did not seem to be interested in tackling
practical questions. China's position remained that three
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