FROM:
Prime Minister
TO:
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Signor Giulio Andreotti
I was
very grateful for your message of 24 September
about your recent visit to China. It is most helpful to
have this detailed account. I was pleased to note that
the outcome confirmed the belief you expressed in your earlier message of 17 September, and which I fully share,
about the importance of keeping channels of communication
to the top Chinese leadership open.
I was particularly interested and encouraged to read
the account of your exchanges on human rights. It is
very much part of my own objectives that we should
increasingly impress on the Chinese that the world
expects more of them in terms of democratic accountability, including greater respect for human rights. The lessons of developments over the past two years in this area, most particularly in the Soviet Union, will not have been lost on the Chinese leadership nor, I believe, on the Chinese populace more widely. While the practical Chinese response to our arguments may still be disappointing, there has been considerable
progress over the past year in their willingness to
engage in a dialogue on these issues. This in itself is
encouraging. I am personally convinced that the way. forward is to continue to raise these issues, making clear to the top Chinese leadership that we expect more of China and that, without progress, these issues will
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