The Gate to China by Michael Sheridan

Author:Michael Sheridan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

A Mandarin for All Seasons

On the morning of Monday, 17 August 1993, Sir Percy Cradock called at the imposing Chinese embassy in Portland Place. This smart address had been occupied by envoys of the Middle Kingdom since the late Qing dynasty.

He was ushered in to see the ambassador, Ma Yuzhen. The ostensible reason for the call was to seek clearance for the use of official photographs in Cradock’s memoir of his experiences in China and to ask if anyone might help to identity a Chinese official in one of the pictures. It was a humble mission for a man who had guided British foreign policy and had been the custodian of its secrets as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee until a year earlier. On his departure the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Gates, had written him a private card saying ‘ You have served your country (and mine) with great distinction.’ It was therefore an opportunity which the Chinese ambassador was not about to pass up. He invited Cradock to stay for lunch.

The two men chatted in a desultory way at the table about political affairs, interrupted by members of the embassy staff coming in to try to put a name to the mysterious official, while the ambassador expounded on the merits of physical exercise. They spoke almost entirely in English. Ma was an expert in trading valueless gossip. He said Deng Xiaoping was very old but had no real troubles and was mentally alert. Li Peng saw foreign visitors occasionally but needed more rest. The key figure was Zhu Rongji, the former mayor of Shanghai, who was on the way up. The economy was important, of course.

The ambassador then quizzed his guest about the Hong Kong talks. Britain and China were still arguing about Patten’s democratic reforms. Were they near breaking point?

Cradock said he had no special information but he believed the talks had a good way to go. The Chinese were keen to know if there was a deadline. Well, said Cradock, the governor might put his package to a vote in the Legislative Council, or he might finesse it and give an equivocal speech keeping his options open. Ma was intrigued by the word ‘equivocal’, so Cradock helpfully compared it to the Chinese expression shuang guan de, meaning vague or wishy-washy. The last word was a novelty to the ambassador and obviously appealed.

Pressing his theme, Ma enquired whether there was not, in fact, a deadline because the Hong Kong government would have to prepare for elections. Cradock said he was for negotiations, not confrontation. He was sure both governments wanted a solution, he felt Hong Kong people wanted to go on talking, although – he was careful to add – they supported the governor at the same time. It was not, Cradock said, in the Chinese tradition to humiliate their opponents; there would have to be concessions on both sides and although the Chinese had their principles they would have to bend them. The ambassador interjected that they would not bend them.

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