TNAG-2347-FCO40-3416-Political-relations-between-Hong-Kong--Italy-and-China-1991 — Page 8

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

Page

C

Ar Janes PED

ghov shaft repy by 3/x

ркал

SPS

Ps/Lord Callin

10 DOWNING STREET,

From the Private Secretary

LONDON SWIA 2AA

Aca Richard,

PS/POS

S

cober

معان

1 October 1991

Dr Werton

Dr Burn

nr Green rezi

Head HKD)

WE

MESSAGE FROM THE ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER

Specard Acviferí

I enclose a copy of a message to the

Prime Minister from Signor Andreotti 120m (ing

following the latter's visit to China.

The Prime Minister will want to send a substantive reply. I should be grateful for a draft to reach me by Friday 4 October.

Jour

fraphe

J. S. WALL

Richard Gozney, Esq., Foreign and Commonwealth Office

R-plec also

(fich) Siv R McLaser

A!

BY HAND

007499

Italian Embaray.

14. Three Kings Yard, London, BA

30th September, 1991

Dear Mr

Well,

I

take

the pleasure in enclosing herewith

a text of

to

addressed

message

the Prime Minister, from the President of the Italian

Council of Ministers, Senator Giulio Andreotti, together with an unofficial

translation of the same.

I avail myself of this opportunity to send you my best regards.

Encs

Mr Stephen Wall, LVO

Private Secretary to the Prime Minister

(Overseas Affairs)

10 Downing St

London SW 1

дешь діт

ncerely

Livio Muzi-Faldoni Yentargé d'Affaires

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

Dear Mr Major,

In going over the exchange of correspondence we had soon after

your return from the Far East, I note that the considerations you drew

from your visit to China correspond, by and large, to the ones that I myself have drawn from my personal experience. I can also confirm

that in my talks with the Chinese leadership I expressed myself in accordance with the general lines outlined in my letter to you of the

12th September.

I now wish to draw your attention to some points which seem

to me to be of particular interest.

With regards to human rights, whenever my interlocutors hid behind the five principles of peaceful coexistence, I tried, patiently

but firmly, to make them understand that these have now been overtaken

by events and that there must be an upgrading in quality. In this

context we hope that the spirit of Helsinki becomes a value shared

by all continents. On several occasions I reiterated that there exist

some principles of

of respect of the human person which go beyond the

mere national context. It is moreover inconceivable, in today's world,

given the diffusion of the mass media, to hope that what happens in

a country does not have repercussions in another. I did not fail to

remind all my interlocutors, and especially Li Peng, Jaing Zemin and Yang Shangqkun, that the most recent events, and in particular those which have taken place in the Soviet Union, bear witness to the fact

that peace can only be preserved by governing by consensus and not

by the use of force.

Chinese reation to my arguments was the one we had foreseer.

and which is well know to you. However, I, like you, am convinced that the best way to help the Chinese people is to maintain a constant exchange of views with the top level leadership, which one day will surely have a concrete impact, notwithstanding the apparent "dialogue among deaf people" of the present moment.

cont.d

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