rationalised as far as practicable to
underline that the terms from both
Governments were "broadly comparable"
In addition, neither side entirely trusted
the other the French could have done
the complete station themselves. When
there was some public controversy about
Government support for exports in the UK
financial press, the French told us bluntly
that they would pursue the project with the
UK, but were determined to win, if not
with us, then by themselves. The UK, in
our rather more restrained way, hinted
that we also had options either to fore-
stall the project or make it more costly
to the French. So we had a healthy
frankness about our respective positions.
STYLE AND IDIOM OF NEGOTIATIONS
There are many commentaries on the
characteristics of the Chinese in
negotiation, but in our experience these
can be summarised
(a) Meticulous: All technical aspects
are explored thoroughly.
Usually a period
of studying dispositions, options,
skirmishing. Initial discussions may
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