TNAG-2798-FCO40-4038-Hong-Kong-six-monthly-meetings-of-foreign-ministers-1993 — Page 41

CONFIDENTIAL

4.

In the light of this the best available opportunity for a bilateral meeting might well be when the Secretary of State goes to Tokyo in early July for the G7 Summit. I fear however that the Chinese would certainly be reluctant to fall in with an arrangement for the two Ministers to meet in a neutral capital in the Far East: they would instead press for a visit by the Secretary of State to Peking. This could turn out to be the only option. If so we would want to minimise the risks, discussed above, that the Secretary of State would be sucked into negotiation. This could best be done if the Secretary of State visited Peking in transit to the G7 Summit, with a clearly limited amount of time for discussions with the Chinese. If he was to go to Peking after the G7 Summit it would be more difficult to withstand Chinese attempts to prolong and formalise the programme by the addition of a banquet, the prospect of a call on a Chinese leader, and soforth.

5.

All this suggests that we would be better placed if a meeting in New York on 21 May was of sufficient duration and substance to be plausibly represented as a six-monthly meeting under the Airport MOU.

Cottum

CO Hum

CONFIDENTIAL