CONQUER MAL
Chancellor's office last summer, very little enthusiasm was show
for improving links with the PRC in judicial matters.
y.
Perry Keller's initial dialogue on this matter was wit.
a most impressive figure, Judge Zhang Mao. I know Zhang, and i:
my view he would be a good person with whom to negotiate. He is
very 'professional' man who in a more liberal political climate
was prepared to emphasize that he regarded the greatest problem
facing the Chinese judiciary to be Communist Party influence
over the courts. However, when I visited him last February on a
relatively informal basis virtually the first words he uttered
were to the effect that our conversation would be reported in
full to the President of the Supreme People's Court. I am not
confident that Zhang is politically respectable at the moment.
Indeed, in a sense, I hope that he isn't. If I am correct in my
suspicions, then this would be another factor discouraging us
moving forward rapidly at this stage.
from
10.
Thus, while I share the view that it is important in
the not too distant future to pursue this matter with the PRC
authorities, for the reasons given above in pars. 5-9, I think
that we must proceed cautiously. And in order to get things right
we may have to invest significant amounts of man power at a time
when the Divisions that would be involved already have their
heavily committed.
resources
11.
The precise manner in which we approach the problem
will, of course, necessarily involve close cooperation between
(among others) the International Law Division, the Civil
Division, and the Legal Policy Division. However, I am
specifically asked in the final paragraph of FCO telno. 2406 to
plan ahead
"to identify areas in which cooperation might
•
usefully be developed and pitfalls avoided". This I will do,
generally, by a thorough review of the operations of the relevant
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