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ویزده
To recy/n
Carter
M. Ma, DTD, Church House. (to put
Sir Saville Garner
Minister of State
V
2076
In his telegram 768 the Governor points out that action is being taken to deal with inflammatory posters, but it may not be possible to avoid action also being taken "against the Communist press for its contined gross scurrilities". Although he could take action against the newspapers and printing works under the Emergency Regulations, he is also considering:
(i) to refuse to allow selected N.C.N.A. and newspaper officials now in China (there are at present three such) to return;
or
(ii) to refuse to renew the visas of some of those here when
they run out.
In paragraph 6(ii) of the telegram the Governor also asks whether there are considerations vis-a-vis N.C.N.A. in London and Reuters in Peking which must be taken into account.
This problem was discussed with Foreign Office officials yesterday afternoon and it was agreed that the position of the N.C.N.A. in London was entirely different from that of the N.C N.A. in Hong Kong. Initially action against the N.C.N.A. in London had been considered as a retaliatory measure against the action of the Chinese for the attacks on our offices in Peking and particularly in Shanghai. The N.C.N.A. in London are not a security threat in the U.K., whereas in Hong Kong the N.C.N.A. is being used as a spearhead for the campaign against the Hong Kong authorities and is very much a threat to internal security. The Foreign Office agreed that so far as the N.C.N.A. in Hong Kong is concerned the requirements of internal security should be the first consideration.
On the other hand the recent telegram from Peking and the general assessment from Hong Kong itself tended to confirm the view that the disorders in Hong Kong had not been initiated by Peking but had been the work of local Communists, and that Peking had been
For this forced into the position of having to back them up. reason it might therefore be unwise to take any action in Hong Kong which might make it more difficult for the Chinese in Peking to
disengage
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