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CONFIDENTIAL
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THE BRIEF SHOULD BE CLEARED WITH US
(BUT NOT
HEAD ON'
Hong Kong. On the other, we do not help confidence in
Hong Kong by making China's present record and prospects
worse than they actually are. The Governor has commented
(Hong Kong telno 836) that a measured strengthening of
our line on human rights in China could help defuse
criticism of British "double standards", which has been
used to support the case that HMG is soft on China, in
the Hong Kong context as well as in the general terms. He is of the opinion that, provided the tactics suggested by Peking are followed, this should not lead to a deterioration in relations effecting our co-operation
over Hong Kong. The Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee are likely to raise the question of human rights in China in the course of their investigations into the future of Hong Kong.
6. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister responsible for European Affairs, Mr Zhou Nan, is visiting this country from 27 March to 1 April. This will give us a good opportunity to raise our
concerns about human rights at a
high level with the Chinese.
7. There is also much to commend Miss Bailes'
to commend Miss Bailes' suggestion that we raise the subject within the Twelve to see if a
common European line can be achieved. This would not only have the advantage of paving the way for
REPRESENTATION CO-ordinating European representations to the Chinese,
PRESUMABLY)
રમ
but would also both lend more weight to these approaches and avoid singling us out as taking the lead in this matter. Our initiative i raising Tibet at the Political Committee on 9/10 March has been the first test of our
CS 8AAU
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CONFIDENTIAL
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