TNAG-1634-FCO40-2250-Visits-by-Chinese-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 66

Confidential

GRS 400

CONFIDENTIAL

FM PEKING

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELNO 003

OF 0200377 JANUARY 87

INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG

INFO ROUTINE BANGKOK

PA

See12

0278 78

RECEIVED IA REGISTRY 23 JAN 1987

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on Taken

MY TELNO 2443 (NOT TO BANGKOK): WU XUEQIAN.

1. JIANG ENZHU (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE WESTERN EUROPEAN DEPARTMENT

OF THE MFA) TOLD ME ON 30 DECEMBER THAT HE WAS DISCUSSING TWO

POSSIBLE TIMINGS FOR A MEETING BETWEEN YOU AND WU WITH WU'S OFFICE.

ONE WAS IN EARLY JUNE, AT THE END OF WU'S TOUR OF A NUMBER OF

AFRICAN AND LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES. THE OTHER WAS BEFORE OR AFTER

YOUR PROJECTED VISIT TO JAPAN IN MAY. IN RELATION TO THE LATTER, JIANG SAID THAT THE PLAN HE WAS DISCUSSING WAS FOR A SHORT VISIT,

DURING WHICH YOU WOULD HAVE MEETINGS WITH WU AND CERTAIN OTHER LEADERS', ON BILATERAL RELATIONS (INCLUDING HONG KONG) AND ON INTERNATIONAL ISSUES OF COMMON CONCERN.

2.

1

I SAID THAT I THOUGH THAT YOU WOULD WISH TO HAVE A GOOD TALK WITH WU, ABOUT HONG KONG BUT ALSO ABOUT OTHER ISSUES, SEFORE THE YEAR WAS TOO FAR ADVANCED. I WAS SURE YOU WOULD WISH TO MEET WU'S

WISH THAT HE SHOULD TRAVEL A CERTAIN AMOUNT IN BRITAIN WHEN HE PAID HIS OFFICIAL VISIT THERE.

3. IT EMERGED DURING SUBSEQUENT CONVERSATION THAT WU 'WOULD BE

ABSENT FROM CHINA FROM THE MIDDLE OF MAY UNTIL ABOUT 10 JUNE. i

TOLD JIANG THAT YOU WERE THINKING IN TERMS OF VISITING JAPAN DURING

THE WHITSUN RECESS AND THAT WU'S ABSENCE FROM CHINA AT THAT TIME

SEEMED TO ELIMINATE THE POSSIBILITY OF YOUR MEETING HIM IN PEKING

DURING THE RECESS. JIANG AGREED.

I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER YOUR DIARY WOULD ALLOW YOU TO MEET WU IN LONDON AT THE BEGINNING OF JUNE OR (AS EARLIER SUGGESTED BY MET ZHAORONG TO THOMSON) IN LATE MAY, 1.E. EITHER AT THE END OR THE BEGINNING OF WU'S TOUR OF COUNTRIES OUTSIDE EUROPE. EVEN IF IT DID, EITHER DATE WOULD SEEM TO ME TO BE RATHER LATE IN RELATION TO THE

1987 PEVIEW.

5. 1 THEREFORE WONDER WHETHER IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO ARRANGE A

MEETING IN BANGKOK AT THE TIME OF THE ESCAP SESSION THERE. I SEE / FROM

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