CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO
TELELETTER PEKING
TELELETTER NFR
OF 101459Z SEPTEMBER 93
AND TO TELELETTER HONG KONG
FROM Graham Fry, FED
TO Nigel Cox, Peking
CONFIDENTIAL
13/9
An Achetts in Mens
N
19/9
a
fi
HKA 062/1
14 JEP 993
(20)
042146
MDTTAN 0580
POLITICO-MILITARY TALKS WITH CHINA
1. During the Asia-Pacific Heads of Mission Conference in June, there was dis ussion of the case for attempting to resume a dialogue on political/military issues with the Chinese. Because the last such talks were in 1988, the files are not immediately available, but FCO race memory tells us that They were not very productive.
•
2. We here have no illusions that a
that a round now would necessarily be any more thrilling, but we do believe that there are enough important subjects for discussion - nuclear proliferation, weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms, UN peacekeeping, regional security etc to merit the attempt. China is inevitably going to become a major regional power and we need to talk to it as a full member of the international community. Already I believe that the Australians have had pol/mil talks, and the Japanese agreed a little while ago to do so too. Because of the range of issues for discussion, talks would have to be at a relatively high level with Paul Lever or possibly Sir T Daunt leading our team.
3.
How do you
We would welcome your views on the above. think the Chinese would react to such a proposal? Who would you expect to be involved on their side? Do the agenda items strike you as the right ones? Are there other things which our Own team could usefully do while in Peking, or should we think of a programme limited essentially to the formal talks?
SIGNED GRAHAM FRY
PAGE 1 CONFIDENTIAL
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