TNAG-1799-FCO40-2559-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-ex-China-Vietnamese-illegal-im-1988 — Page 135

CONFIDENTIAL

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CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG (AMENDED DISTRIBUTION 21/1)

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELNO 301

OF 21104OZ JANUARY 88

INFO PRIORITY PEKING

@

171614

MDLIAN 3944

ния rend 243/9

;)

мом

22 JAN 1988

VICER

2)

MY TELNO 260 : VISIT TO HONG KONG BY VICE MINISTER QIAN QICHEN

p.a.

also

243/ECUITS para 3)

VICE FOREIGN MINISTER QIAN QICHEN PAID A COURTESY CALL ON ME

THIS MORNING. AFTER OPENING COURTESIES HE SAID THAT HE KNEW THAT

I HAD HAD A GREAT DEAL OF CONTACT WITH ZHOU NAN AND KE ZAISHOU ON

HONG KONG MATTERS. I SAID THAT WE SAW COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO

SIDES AS VITAL FOR THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JOINT

DECLARATION AND THE MAINTENANCE OF PROSPERITY AND STABILITY IN

HONG KONG. THESE CONTACTS WERE VERY USEFUL, AS WERE THE REGULAR

MEETINGS THAT YOU HAD BEEN ABLE TO HAVE WITH WU. QIAN SAID THAT

IN THE PAST THESE LATTER MEETINGS HAD BEEN NARROWLY FOCUSSED ON

HONG KONG. HE EXPECTED YOUR MEETING WITH WU IN ARCH TO COVER A

WIDER RANGE OF ISSUES.

2. I TOLD QIAN THAT I HAD BEEN STRUCK, ON MY RETURN TO HONG KONG AS GOVERNOR, BY THE CLOSENESS OF CONTACTS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND GUANGDONG. THERE HAD BEEN A GREAT INCREASE IN OUR ENTREPOT TRADE.

MUCH OF THIS WAS CARRIED BY THE RAILWAYS AND ENDED UP IN OUR CONTAINDER PORT, WHICH WAS NOW ABOUT THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD. MANY HONG KONG COMPANIES ALSO HAD ENTERPRISES IN GUANGDONG:

LEAST A MILLION PEOPLE IN GUANGDONG WORKED FOR THEM. IT WAS

IMPORTANT THAT WE SHOULD MAINTAIN CLOSE CONTACTS WITH THOS

RESPONSIBLE FOR PLANNING EXPANSION IN GUANGDONG SO THAT OUR

FACILITIES WERE EXPANDED IN ACCORDANCE WITH LIKELY DEMAND. QIAN

SAID THAT GUNAGDONG HAD DEVELOPED RELATIVELY RAPIDLY. THERE

WAS GREAT INTEREST IN HONG KONG INVESTMENT THERE AND THE USE OF

GUANGDONG LABOUR BY HONG KONG INDUSTRIALISTS.

AT

3. WE TALKED BRIEFLY ABOUT RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PRC AND THE SOVIET

UNION. QIAN SAID THAT BILATERAL TRADE HAD RECENTLY INCREASED: BUT

THAT THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL IMPROVEMENT IN POLITICAL RELATIONS. THE SOVIET UNION HAD NOT MADE ANY REAL MOVES ON THE THREE CHINESE

DEMANDS. I SAID THAT WE IN HONG KONG WATCHED THE SITUATION IN

KAMPUCHEA WITH PARTICULAR INTEREST BECAUSE OF ITS RELATIONSHIP

TO THE PROBLEM OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES IN

HONG KONG WAS INCREASING: IN 1987 ARRIVALS HAD BEEN UP 50 PER CENT

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