TNAG-2293-FCO40-3305-Official-visits-from-Hong-Kong-to-China-1991 — Page 152

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Chapter 19

Observations by AD(SS)/SWD

1.

eoverage

was not

when the

During the visit, the Soviet coup had medium

in Beijing newspapers and television.

The subject

picked up for discussion by Beijing officials, and

topic was raised, their official line was that it

was Soviet Union's internal affairs, and would have no

effect on China's policies and directions

economic reform.,

for gradual

2.

I was slightly relieved to find most of the

Chinese officials (senior middle-management ?) meeting the

Hong Kong delegation were relatively young (in their

thirties and forties), knowledgeable about their area of

work, and generally quite out-going and open in discussing

a subject. This is particularly so with the people in the

Ministry of Health, and also Dr. Wu Zhongze of the

Department of Social Welfare. The officers have had

extensive foreign contacts, (e.g. having attended overseas

conferences) unreserved in admitting their limitations and

setbacks, and yet very positive in looking ahead and

listing their plans and

directions,

undaunted by the

mammoth task faced by a

country with over a billion

population.

Officials of

MOFERT were young, smart and

confident but more prone

to

presenting a rosy front and

dodging less palatable

issues, e.g. problem faced by

'foreign' investors.