TNAG-2346-FCO40-3415-Political-relations-between-Hong-Kong--Japan-and-China-1991 — Page 94

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Policy Planning Staff

29 July 1991

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THIRD ANGLO-JAPANESE SYMPOSIUM AT CHATEAU DE TOURREAU, 19-21 JULY

1. I attended this agreeable event together with those on the attached list. Although these gatherings are rather different from the usual conference circuit

Michael Dobbs-Higginson's remarkable range of contacts in Japan, the intimacy of the surroundings, and a degree of stability among the participants make these events well worth while. I record below only the most striking points from a number of interesting discussions.

2. On Hong Kong the Japanese were relieved at the airport deal but (like most other Orientals) remain generally perplexed by our behaviour: they do not see what commercial advantage we are obtaining for the UK from all of this.

3.

The Gulf War was a major theme. The Japanese are still grappling with its implications. They have for a long time made the UN a focus of their diplomacy but find that when for the first time it works they are in difficulties. Talk of "global partnership" with the US - Bush's phrase - is seen as hollow. The outcome of the Gulf War is (mistakenly) seen as disappointing and the Japanese wonder what it is they have got for their $13 billion. This seems to the Japanese to lead to a number of conclusions:

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money does not buy influence;

partnership with America is difficult if not impossible: therefore Japan must construct an Asian political identity. But European possibilities should also be explored. Hence the importance which the Japanese attached to the mention of security consultation in the

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