CONFIDENTIAL
BY
COPY FOR REGISTRATION
Cypher/Cat A
IMMEDIATE
PEKING
ΤΟ
FOREIGN OFFICE
Telno 482
15 May 1967
CONFIDENTIAL
Addressed to Foreign Office telegram No. 482 of 15 May, Repeated for information to Hong Kong, Singapore and Washington.
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My telegrams Nos. 478, 479 and 480: M.F.A. Statement.
After Lo Kuei-po (who was calm and composed) had finished reading text, in answer to my enquiry he confirmed that he was handing me a copy of a statement rather than delivering a Note. had pointed out that there were a number of passages in the text which I would have regarded as unacceptable in a Note.
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2. I emphasized that the Hong Kong Government consistently adopted a just and impartial attitude towards labour disputes but had an inescapable duty to maintain law and order. Failure of demonstrators
and those committing acts of violence to disperse when warned to do so by the Hong Kong Police had led to further disorders, arrests and. injuries which have clearly made the solution of the labour dispute more difficult.
3. I stressed that the accusation that the incidents had been pre-
I meditated by the Hong Kong Government was entirely groundless. also rejected the charge that the United States Authorities were in any way involved and that Hong Kong was being used as an American base.
4. Pointing out that I was speaking on a personal basis, I suggested that for the disorders to continue would be bad for the people of Hong Kong and its economy, and harmful to both Chinese and British interests. It was therefore hoped that the CPG would exercise a restraining and moderating influence on their friends in Hong Kong, which would bring about a restoration of an atmosphere of calm.
5. It was quite wrong to suggest, as in the Chinese statement, that the British Government regarded the Chinese as "opponents" The British Government and the Hong Kong Authorities wished to co- operate amiably with the CPG in settling matters of mutual interest but had of course no interest in Chinese internal affairs.
6. Lo's reply covered the same ground as the M.F.A. statement and emphasized that the Chinese people of today could not be bullied as they could "ten or more" years ago, that the incidents had been planned and organised by the Hong Kong Government and that the situation was deteriorating.
7. I again stressed that there was no question of premeditation by the Hong Kong Government. It was not for me to comment directly on the "so-called demands" in the Chinese statement, but speaking personally they seemed to me to be unreasonable and unrealistic.
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