TEL: 25. Jun. 93 9: 16 No. 004 P. 01/ 05
F PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH PRIME MINSTR AT SAIIGRI-LA
OTrEL FOLLOWING HErI WITH PREMIER L PEMG, DZIJXIM,
23/ 6/ 93
PH:: Well, I had, I think, a very good meeting with
Premier Li Pen where I thought I was given a
generous welcome where, in the opening of the
meeting he paid substantial compliments to
Australia. I think they regard us as a big and
important player in this part of the world.
He began the meetiny then talking about the first
specific subject about the prospects of the Chinese
economy, its growth and how Australia should be a
participant in its growth and then he paid a
substantial tribute to our raw materials industry
and gave projections about the growth of the Chinese
steel industry and said that he expected Australia
would be a participant in Its growth ae a
substantial, efficient, reliable, raw materials
supplier. So we had come discussion about their economic
growth, about their primdry industries such as steel
and then I went on to mae the point that though we
pride ourselves on being an efficient producer of
raw materials, that we also are now a significant
developer of products of innovative producte and now
a significant exporter and that we could play a role
in China beyond raw materials supply to such things
as telecommunications and computer sciences,
environmental technologies etcetera. At this point
he positively recognised and said that he knew about
our technological vupacitles and that therefore he
thought this was, you know, sensible. As China grew
we would grow with them not only in raw materials
but also in these other areas.
We then went on to have a general discussion about
the world in general, the state of growth, where the
industrial nations are lining up and the
conversation then drifted around to AP& C.
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And I think we both agreed on the prospects that
APEC holds for accelerating growth and trade in this
part uf the world bearing in mind that the ambient
ulimate is one of lower growth in Japan, Western
Europe and North America. And that we should take
the opportunities or muvilg APEC ahead as a vehicle
for accelerating growth and increasing the velocity
of trade.
He then cQnfirmed to me what he had written to me
and that is China's interest in APEC and in a
leaders meeting. He said that we still had some
arrengements to put together. He was not, he made
no reference to the prospect of President Clinton
holding or hosting such a meeting this year which of
vuurue, as I have indicated to you, rvmains only
something which has been mooted and not decided but
gave a positive indication that they would see a
leaders' meeting having the prospect of bringing
political authority to APEC.
He said that he would uee vu" Cureign ministries
continuing to discuss the position of Taiwan and
Hong Kong though he made the point that he regarded
it as natural for countries with an economic
interest and econumic reldtlons with Taiwan and Hong
Kong to see themselves represented in those
economies at economic ministerial level.
The conversation then went around to the GATT and
thelr application for membership. I said we
supported their application for memLbrship of the
GATT; that lower tariffs and transparency in trade
would not only help China but would help the rest of
us; and it would help them in ways which may not le
obvious now but if they were to become a mainstream
economy thkn they have to be in the mainstream world
trading bodies and GATT is primary amongst them.
I then as we then moved towarda the tall of the
meeting which went for about Just a little over an
hour I then said that Australia had maintained
Its interest in human rights issues and we
appreciated them receiving human rights delegations
in 1991 and 1992 and because we in Australia believe
that this medium of having viesits by groups in
respeQt of human rights is a good one to maintain
some discussion on this issue. I invited Premier
Li Peng to send a delegation to look at these issues
in Australia to see how we ourselves operate as a
society which I think leaves Australia the option
then of continuing a dialogue on human rights in
these terms. V" S
TEL: -3-
Now, finally, I also invited i'remier Li Pang to send
a ministerial delegation to Australia leading a
group of representatives of their industries to look
at opportunities for further collaborative business
together in all of the areas raw materials and
most particularly in manufactures and services
and hc thanked me for that invitation.
Our meeting concluded with him making light of the
fact that we were friendly rivals for the_ 0lympic
bids and that China would be making every financial
effort to support its bid and I said well these will
) je decided on the technical merits of the bids arnd
we always, think we do well there. He said yes,
well out of the sort at, out of the ring I think the
word he used, of harder Issues, this is something
which we can remain friendly rivals onl.
J: What was his response on the human rights question?
PM; He appreciated that invitation, I think, which means
that they wish to continue that dialogue.
J3: Prime Minister, at the beginning of the meeting we
did hear him mention a word that our relationship
had somne misconceptions in the past. What was the
weight of those comnt?..
PM1; Well, veil there was no elaboration of that but I am
sure that refers to our atLitude to what happened
here in 1989. But I think, I mean, the Chinese are
players for the long run and they regard I'm sure my
visit here as a further episode in the long run
relationship with Australia. And of course they
welcome that.
J3: Is it youz4 view that he will go along with an APEC
tsumuit. at which Taiwan and Hong gong are
represented, Is thdt the sense you get at the end
of it.
PM: Well he, they have irt Vms~ L allowed Taipel, they've
out at a table with Taiwan and nong Kong
representing as they do economies and the whole
question of leaders versus heads of government is
that there may be In uome way a person who is oth~ er
than a head of government, that is a leader, maybik
an -economic minister, could again in some
construction sit and represent these economieS. But
this was a matter he thought our foreign ministries
should continue to work on, That is, he ~ I think,
takeBs the view that APEC and any leaders' meeting
which is part of it has to be set up properly.
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And this is the point I think I've made to you that
this is a matter the timing of this, in a sense,
doesn't matter providing that we get around to
making the best of it. And this may be accelerated
in the event that the united States President wished
to accelerate it in whc. h uase we would have to
think about it more. But, agalin, more naturally it
would occur later.
J: Any discussion of regional security and the U3
presence in the western Pacific?
PM; Not really no, except I said that I thought it was
important to keep the United States very much
involved in North and south East Asia. To pull
both sides of the Pacific together which I thought
APEC could do in an economic sense and of course
where the economics goes, where the investment and
trade goes also does go the United States' other
interests including strategic interests.
J: Did you raise the question of Improved sales of
Australian wool to China specifically.
PM: No I didn't but I have ralsed it with Vice-Minister
Madam Wu Yi and I said that there may some prospect
of Australia developing with china virtually a new
segment of the world garment industry. That is,
they are a manufacturer of garments but there is not
really a world industry of low priced woollen
garments and that there maty be oome prospect of us
being able to do that given the fact that we have a
substantial sto; kplle of wool. But again anything
Australia does would have to be such as to proteut
its existing market for wool in China at the prices
we currently obtain.
J: Did he endorse the braLder regional liberalisation
ugenda you have been pushing on APEC.
PM: Very much so. I think they see growth in the
northern hemisphere, the prospects of it being as we
see it the low growth and he made the point since
the cold war has finished there has been a lot of
difficulty in regional economies and in regions of
the world and he talked about Bosnia Herzegovina
and talked about the CIS amongst them and Somalia
as indications of the fact that once the bipolarity
of the cold war has sort of been lifted these other
tensions and strains had become more apparent.
He also referred, we reCerred briefly to the changed
political situation in Japan and the seeming splits
TEL: 25. Jun. 93 9: 16 No. 004
4 within the Liberal Democratic Party as not being a
god portent for growth from that economy for the
moment. All the more reason therefore why APEC can
play a, can give clarity and focus on to growth and
trade liberalisatio~ n in what is, as he himself
described, the fastest growing part of the world.
J; There are reports in Australia or theG budget deficit
coming in one billion under expectations does this
mean that next year's similarly will be targeted at
fifteen rather than sixteen billion dollars.
PM: Well, I'm not here to discuss budgetary issues in
Australia. -The Treasurer made some comments about
this some time ago saying that he thought that we
wouldi bring next year's Duaget In somewhere around
this year. But I think when he sai ' d that our
estimates of revenue were less than they are now in
reality. So, I don't think that in those terms he
wus talking about an outcome better than the sixteen
billion he originally forecast.
ends.