Hong Kong, 7 September 1971
1182. Secret
For Secretary.
From Burgess.
Kibel1
Your 1368.2
I made contact with Kibel today, 7th September. He has been in Japan and will be returning to Australia this evening. He plans to come back here on his way to the Canton Fair next month.
2. From what Kibel told me it appears that the Chinese are in fact using him as a vehicle for two important proposals. It seems clear that they are prepared to invite not only Mr Peacock but also a semi–official trade mission to visit China in the near future.
3. Kibel’s contacts in this instance have been senior Hong Kong based communist officials in China Resources Co. which represents a number of the Mainland’s state trading corporations here. He said he and his father before him have had dealings with these contacts over a long period of years during which time it has become clear that their function is a political rather than a trade one. Kibel said they had always accepted, and respected, his position which was that he completely disassociated himself from Chinese political views, or indeed any particular political viewpoint.
On this basis he had established a very frank relationship with them. He has given me the names of his three principal contacts and while I shall be checking them out further, I am inclined to share Kibel’s view that they would not put forward proposals of this kind lightly.
4. Kibel gave me the following background to the present development. In May of this year during a period when the Australian press were devoting a lot of attention to China he had made himself available for interviews on TV and in the press. On a visit here soon afterward Chinese officials had produced a sheaf of Australian press cuttings on his views and were clearly very pleased with what he had said. They had then begun to ask him questions about the political situation in Australia and about Australian politicians he knew. Mr Peacock’s name had come up for the first time in this connection.
5. The proposals for the visits were put to Kibel during his stop-over here in mid-August on his way to Japan. He had telephoned Mr Peacock immediately but had not felt able to give too much detail over the phone. The first Chinese proposal was that Mr Peacock make a visit in a private capacity accompanied by Mrs Peacock, a secretary and one or two others. They would not mind if these others included officials from Foreign Affairs or Trade as long as they were not too senior. In addition they would like some pressmen to go along. They mentioned the possibility of Mr Peacock seeing Chou En–lai and something of the People’s Liberation Army during the visit. Secondly the Chinese asked Kibel to organise a private trade delegation for a visit to China and had suggested a couple of businessmen who might be included. They had not demurred when Kibel suggested that a Trade Commissioner or two accompany the group. Kibel intends to seek the co–operation of the Department of Trade in organising the delegation on his return to Australia.
6. Kibel had told the Chinese that the Prime Minister would have to approve any visit by Mr Peacock. The Chinese had initially queried this on the ground that he would be corning in a private capacity but after some explanation had finally come around to accepting the necessity of this. They had said that, assuming a visit were approved, the next step would be for Mr Peacock to compose a letter requesting an invitation in which he would set out the proposed composition of the party, his preferred dates, and an indication of what he would like to see in China. Kibel would post this letter to his contacts in Hong Kong. The Chinese refused to be pinned down on timing but it was clear that they were thinking of an early visit. On his present stop–over here on his way home the Chinese had been on to him asking whether the Prime Minister had approved the visit yet. They had also asked him for a lot of detailed background on Mr Peacock, e.g. which school he attended, which suggested that preparations were already underway.
7. I asked Kibel if he had been given any indication why the Chinese had selected Mr Peacock as a suitable visitor and why they were proposing these visits at this particular time. He said he had questioned his contacts frankly on these lines. The Chinese had clearly done a lot of recent homework on Australian politics. They appeared to want a young and not too senior Minister. In this connection Kibel mentioned that the Chinese tended to look a long way ahead. They had also indicated to him pretty frankly that they feel that the ALP visit (with which they had been very pleased) had left them with all their eggs in one basket and that it was in their interests to have lines of communication with the Government as well as the Opposition. They had questioned Kibel about the likely outcome of the next election and pretty clearly felt that they should have a bet on both horses. Kibel said the Chinese had made some unhappy noises about the way the dialogue between Ambassadors in Paris had gone and seemed to feel that not much was likely to be gained from further contact of that sort. They had also shown a lot of interest in the announcement of the withdrawal of Australian troops from South Vietnam and this may have had something to do with the present development.3
8. Kibel was also given some interesting insight into broader Chinese thinking about Australia. His contacts had indicated unhappiness about the Prime Minister’s statements this year on Australian interest in improving relations with the USSR,4 and had gone as far as to suggest that Australia would be better off looking to China for friendship rather than to the USSR. Kibel had also had a long burst from them on the need for Australia to be cautious in its dealings with Japan and had been warned that the Japanese would soon be telling us what to do. All this suggests that China feels a need to get some sort of foothold in Australia to counter the Soviets and Japanese.
9. Kibel hopes it may be possible for him to give the Prime Minister a first hand account of the talks he has had here. He impresses as an intelligent and level–headed fellow who has had considerable experience in dealing with the Chinese. He has asked particularly that the role he is performing be closely safeguarded for the moment.
[NAA: A1838, 3107/38/18/2/1, i]
1 James Kibel, Australian businessman.
2 6 September. Waller informed Burgess of reports that Kibel had visited China ten times in the recent past, and asked Burgess to report on his whereabouts and to contact him upon his return to Hong Kong. In a previous cablegram (Cablegram 1331, 1 September) Waller had asked Bareham to contact Kibel in order to ascertain for McMahon the precise background of an invitation to visit China which the PRC had apparently extended to the Minister for the Army, A.S. Peacock, through Kibel.
3 On 18 August McMahon announced that the combat role which Australia had taken in Vietnam would soon be completed.
4 On 13 May McMahon mentioned that the Australian Government had been engaged in a review of Australia’s bilateral relations with the Soviet Union.