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BE BUYING MORE FROM THE UK, PARTICULARLY FROM ROLLS ROYCE, BAE AND UK COAL MINING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS - SUBJECT OF COURSE TO THE PRICE BEING RIGHT. ON CONCESSIONAL FINANCE HE MADE THE USUAL POINTS ABOUT CHINA'S SHORTAGE OF CAPITAL AND ABOUT THE NEED FOR BRITISH SUPPLIERS TO OFFER COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS, INCLUDING FINANCIAL, COMPARED WITH OTHER COUNTRIES. HE REFERRED (AS HE HAD TO LORD CAITHNESS), TO ICI'S BID FOR A CHEMICAL PLANT AT LIAOYANG. HE ALSO URGED A DECISION TO OFFER A SOFT LOAN, HOWEVER SMALL, AS A POLITICAL GESTURE WHICH THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP WOULD UNDERSTAND. HE REPEATEDLY SAID THAT THE CHINESE WERE NOW VERY POSITIVE ABOUT THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP FOLLOWING THE VISITS OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND ZOU JIAHUA. COLES SAID THAT WE WOULD REFLECT ON THESE POINTS IN CONSIDERING THE WAY FORWARD.
4. TURNING TO HUMAN RIGHTS, COLES SAID THAT LORD CAITHNESS WOULD WISH TO CONTINUE THE DIALOGUE. WE HAD NOTED CHINA'S PUBLICATION OF A WHITE PAPER ON THE SUBJECT, WHICH WE SAW AS RECOGNITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S INTEREST. WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT CHINA AND THE WEST HAD DIFFERENT CONCEPTS, WE REMAINED PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT: GENUINE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND OF RELIGION: AND THE WORKINGS OF THE SECURITY AND JUDICIAL SYSTEMS. MA RAN OVER THE CHINESE POSITION IN STANDARD TERMS, SAYING THAT THEIR WILLINGNESS TO DISCUSS THE SUBJECT, WHICH THEY REGARDED AS INTERNAL, WAS SIMPLY A MATTER OF COURTESY AND RECOGNITION OF GOOD RELATIONS. THEY WOULD WISH TO DISCUSS NOT ONLY CHINA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD BUT ALSO THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES.
5. COLES MENTIONED THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW DHM AS A MARK OF THE INCREASING LEVEL OF BILATERAL ACTIVITY. MA WELCOMED THIS MOVE.
TRONG KONG:
Redacted under FOI
exemption section 27(1)
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