Mr. General Secretary Hu Yaobang, Mr. Vice-Premier Li Peng, Your Excellency, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In 1984 I went to Peking to sign the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.
It was a memorable and historic visit.
It also enabled me to invite you Premier Zhao Ziyang to visit Britain. [end p1]
Almost exactly one year ago, Premier Zhao was sitting here at this table.
Since then we have been keeping the seat warm for you.
Our pleasure now is something which you and your distinguished delegation will recognise.
For one of the first remarks in the “Analects” of Confucius is:
“Is it not a delight that friends should [end p2] visit from afar” ?
We wish you and all your delegation a very warm welcome to No. 10 Downing Street and to Britain.
Hu YaobangMr. General Secretary, when I first invited you to pay this visit, I remember that you said that you could not possibly come because your face was too red.
Well, I saw nothing to worry about in [end p3] that.
After all, red and blue go well together in our national flag, the Union Jack, so I was sure you would fit in well.
We are delighted that you have chosen to begin your European tour here with this, your first visit to our country.
With you we welcome Vice-Premier Li Peng back to Britain as an old and valued [end p4] friend.
His enormous contribution to building up our economic co-operation over the years, most recently with the Daya Bay power generating project, is much appreciated.
We also warmly welcome back Professor Fei Xiaotong, who has lived amongst us and knows us well.
We were all delighted when he was awarded [end p5] the Huxley Memorial Medal in 1981.
Indeed, all the guests here tonight prove the vitality of our relations.
The range of those relations is impressive.
To take but a few examples: in space, our technologists are co-operating on solar power for satellites. [end p6]
A little lower down, Chinese, British and Pakistani scientists joined together in 1980 in the International Karakoram Project, a pioneering survey of the roof of the world.
At ground level, we saw this year the reintroduction from Britain to China of the rare Pere David 's deer; and the establishment of a London double-decker bus route from [end p7] Central Peking to the Summer Palace.
And deep beneath the ground we are working together to exploit oil deposits formed before the dawn of human history.
In all these projects we are investing together in the future.
I am therefore particularly pleased that this afternoon Vice-Premier Li Peng signed [end p8] with Sir Y. K. Pao and Geoffrey Howe a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a major new scheme to bring many more Chinese students to Britain.
This scheme arose from the imagination and characteristic generosity of Sir Y. K. We thank him warmly.
As a scientist myself, I am particularly pleased that many of the scholarships will [end p9] be in science and technology.
The scheme is also innovative: ingeniously pooling the efforts of two governments and the private sector.
Imagination brings practical results.
The most striking achievement of creative policy is our agreement on Hong Kong. The continued stability and prosperity of Hong Kong is a [end p10] vital commitment for both our governments. We are delighted that implementation of the Joint Declaration is going smoothly. We are confident that it will continue to do so.
It is important that we should remain in the closest contact up to and beyond 1997, in the Joint Liaison Group and elsewhere. That is also what the people of Hong Kong want and expect. [end p11]
Hu YaobangMr. General Secretary, we need in our relations commitment, imagination and determination. We must harness the forces of change, not be buffeted by them.
Indeed, we must go out and positively seek change if our countries are to remain at the leading edge of new technology.
We must not be like the old man in the Chinese proverb, who sat under a tree waiting for rabbits. [Shou Zhu Dai Tu] [end p12]
Before you have to leave on Thursday, I want you to see for yourself that Britain is society on the move: inventive and flexible. We have had some success in the past at winning Nobel Prizes—now we are turning pioneering ideas into prosperity—and a prosperity that can be shared. Your joint venture with Pilkingtons at Shanghai, which will bring to China the benefits of their float glass technology, is one of [end p13] many examples.
I have been lucky enough to visit China three times.
I have seen those qualities there too.
I know that historic changes are taking place in your country.
I was not surprised to learn that Chinese inventions won six gold medals at a recent International Exhibition of New Technology in Geneva. [end p14]
And the achievements of your space programme, including the successful launch last year of a geosynchronous communications satellite, speak for themselves.
Indeed I understand that you will now be launching some of the Americans' satellites for them. [end p15]
On Wednesday, Hu YaobangMr. General Secretary, you will visit the British Museum where an influential 19th century thinker—Karl Marx—spent so much of his time.
Had your visit been longer I would have suggested that you also visit Kirkcaldy, the birthplace of Adam Smith.
Marx often complained that he was no marxist.
And likewise, there is no direct reference [end p16] to capitalism in “The Wealth of Nations” —Adam Smith's analysis of economic behaviour which Marx too regarded as a classic.
There is, I believe, a moral here: we must use ideology to articulate our ideals, but not to stifle practical ideas.
Walter Bagehot, the English constitutional writer, knew this. [end p17]
He said that “of all nations in the world, the English are perhaps the least a nation of pure philosophers.”
We both derive inspiration from the past—there is a shared sense of respect for history in both our cultures.
But both nations also look to the future and to the young for inspiration. [end p18]
You, Hu YaobangMr. General Secretary, Vice-Premier Li and Professor Fei, have all taken forward the great Chinese tradition of teaching and concern for the moral and material welfare of young people.
I hope that those in Britain and China who administer the new educational scheme set up today will remember the words of Chairman Deng Xiaoping. [end p19]
“The youth represent our future. It is they who will carry on our undertakings” .
Mr. General Secretary, this is an exceptional year for Britain and China.
First your visit to us.
Then the historic occasion this October when Her Majesty The Queen makes her State Visit to the People's Republic of China. [end p20]
I ask you all to raise your glasses and drink the Toast, to Chairman Deng, to General Secretary Hu, to the success of his visit and to the future friendship of Britain and China.