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HKD
026/10 p/w. gummitro
35
000136
MDHIAN 5442
ummer visit
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FM PEKING
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1648
OF 02052OZ OCTOBER 91
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, B T C HONG KONG, MA F F LDN
24/2/1x
HONG KONG FOR GOVERNOR AND PS/MR. GUMMER.
FOLLOW UP TO THE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT: HUMAN RIGHTS: MR. GUMMER'S CALL ON WU XUEQIAN.
SUMMARY.
1.
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO RAISE HUMAN RIGHTS WHEN HE PAID A COURTESY CALL ON VICE-PREMIER WU
XUEQIAN ON 28 SEPTEMBER. HE CONCENTRATED ON THE TREATMENT OF CHINESE CATHOLICS, ARGUING THAT THE CONTINUED DETENTION OF PRIESTS IS A BARRIER TO CLOSER RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. WU BLAMED ROME FOR THE PRESENT ABNORMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA AND THE VATICAN, CITING DIFFICULTIES OVER TAIWAN AND VATICAN ENCOURAGEMENT OF LAW-BREAKING BY CHINESE CATHOLICS. HE DECLINED TO BE THE RECIPIENT OF A LIST OF IMPRISONED PRIESTS BUT SAID MR. GUMMER COULD SUBMIT ONE TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES VIA THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE.
DETAIL.
2. VICE-PREMIER WU XUEQIAN RECEIVED MR. GUMMER AND HIS PARTY FOR FORTY MINUTES ON THE AFTERNOON OF 28 SEPTEMBER. AFTER SOME FRIENDLY EXCHANGES ABOUT WU'S VISIT TO THE UK IN 1988, WHEN HE MET MR. GUMMER, AND THE PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT HERE, MR. GUMMER ASKED HOW CHINA VIEWED THE RECENT CHANGES IN THE SOVIET UNION. WU REPLIED THAT RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION WERE A GREAT SETBACK FOR THE CAUSE OF SOCIALISM IN THE WORLD. BUT IT WAS ONLY A TEMPORARY SETBACK: ''ON THE WHOLE'' SOCIALISM WOULD CONTINUE. IN HIS STUDENT DAYS, WU HAD LEARNED THAT SOCIALISM HAD BEGUN IN BRITAIN. AT THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR A NUMBER OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES HAD EMERGED IN EASTERN EUROPE. NOW, WU REPEATED, SOCIALISM HAD SUFFERED A SETBACK. IN THE EARLY YEARS AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC CHINA HAD ENDURED GREAT DIFFICULTIES AND HAD CONCENTRATED ON BUILDING A SOCIALIST COUNTRY. FORTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE TAUGHT
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