TNAG-2228-FCO40-3200-Political-relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-Singapore-1991 — Page 4

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INTERNAL QUESTION WITHOUT VIETNAMESE INVOLVEMENT.

MR GOH THOUGHT THAT INDONESIA WOULD TURN OUT ALRIGHT. SUHARTO WAS LIKELY TO BE RE-ELECTED WHICH WOULD BE GOOD FOR THE REGION. EVEN IF THE NEED FOR A SUCCESSOR AROSE, MR GOH THOUGHT THAT THE INDONESIANS UNDERSTOOD THE NEED FOR STABILITY IN ORDER

TO ACHIEVE GROWTH: THEY WOULD THEREFORE ENGINEER A FAIRLY

ORDERLY SUCCESSION.

MR GOH DID NOT KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN CHINA ONCE THE OLD GUARD HAD GONE. HE WONDERED HOW WE SAW IT. THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT CHINA WAS COMBINING RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE MARKET WITH INSISTENCE ON STRICT POLITICAL CONTROL. HOW THAT TENSION WOULD RESOLVE ITSELF WAS UNCLEAR. MR GOH SAID THAT IT WAS NOT OUR JOB TO IMPOSE A POLITICAL

SOLUTION ON CHINA. THE CHANGES IN THE SOVIET UNION HAD SHOWN THE PITFALLS: AND THEY HAD BEEN DRIVEN PARTLY BY THE WEST. THE

SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT IN THE SOVIET UNION THERE HAD BEEN A GORBACHEV WHOSE POLICIES WE HAD SUPPORTED. HAD THERE BEEN A GORBACHEV IN CHINA, NO DOUBT WE WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED HIM TOO. MR GOH THOUGHT THAT THE CHINESE WERE RIGHT TO PLACE THE EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC REFORM. COASTAL DEVELOPMENT WOULD SPREAD INLAND AND IN TIME ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WOULD LEAD TO POLITICAL REFORM. THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND MR GOH DISCUSSED VARIOUS CHINESE LEADERS. THE SECRETARY OF STATE COMMENTED THAT LI PENG WAS EFFICIENT, BUT AUSTERE: HE DID NOT SMILE AT US. MR GOH SAID THAT HE DID SMILE WHEN HE CAME TO SINGAPORE: PERHAPS HE WAS MORE RELAXED WITH THE SINGAPOREANS. THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT HE FOUND IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND HOW JIANG ZEMIN HAD MANAGED TO BECOME GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY. MR GOH SAID THAT HE HAD NOT BEEN EITHER FIRST OR SECOND CHOICE FOR THE JOB

CHU YAO BANG HAD BEEN FIRST CHOICE).

HONG KONG

*$

5. THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT CHANGE IN CHINA WOULD BE CRUCIAL FOR HONG KONG. OUR RELATIONS WERE EASIER NOW THAT THE AIRPORT DEAL HAD BEEN SIGNED BUT THERE WERE STILL DIFFICULTIES: THE CHINESE DID NOT, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE THE LEGCO ELECTION RESULTS. MR GOH SAID THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT LOSE CONFIDENCE IN HONG KONG: SINGAPORE WAS INVESTING IN HONG KONG, PARTLY TO SHOW THE CHINESE THAT THEY HAD FAITH IN HONG KONG'S FUTURE. EMPHASISED THAT SINGAPORE DID NOT SEE HONG KONG AS A RIVAL, BUT RATHER AS A TWIN CITY.

6.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE SAID THAT WE HAD NOW REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH VIETNAM ON THE RETURN OF DOUBLE-BACKERS AND THAT WE WERE PRESSING THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT TO ACCEPT FURTHER RETURNS. MR GOH ASKED WHETHER WE WERE STILL PAYING THE REFUGEES

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