Cypher
CONFIDENTIAL
OUTWARD TELEGRAM
FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(The Secretary of State)
TO HONG KONG (O.A.G.)
HWB 1/7
Sent 26 July, 1967.
23002
9600
(282)
PRIORITY
CONFIDENTIAL
No. 1543
(263)
Addressed to 0.A.G. Hong Kong
Repeated
Peking
#7 Tokyo.
Your telegram No. 915.
Transit Visas through Hong Kong
So far as the refusal of visas is concerned,
we can see some advantage in such action for those who have gone out of their way to be abusive about Hong Kong but we think that the net should not be cast too wide. There are no doubt a large number of visitors to China who transit Hong Kong, most of whom could be classified as Communiste or sympathisers. In the present atmosphere many of these visitors will be required to "sing for their suppers" by making ritual protests against whatever current bogey the Chinese are attacking. Hong Kong is likely to be on their list for some time. Hong Kong is useful to China as a convenient entry point but interference in its use in this way would in our view tend more to encourage the Chinese to take more active measures against the Colony than to desist. In these circumstances and because of the difficulty of identifying in advance with any certainty those likely to indulge in such abuse, we think that refusal of visas should be employed as a remedial rather than as preventive action; we further consider that such action should be confined to those who have been particularly offensive or who voice their criticism while in Hong Kong and can thus be considered as interfering in the internal affairs of the Colony. Those mentioned in your paragraph 2 fall within this category. We suggest that you and Tokyo should keep a joint "black list" of Japanese in this category (since they are likely to be the main culprits) and that separate instructions should be sent to posts concerned as and when others offend in a similar way.
2.
Delays in issuing visas could, however, be used as a preventive or cautionary measure in the case of those identified Communist travellers to China who might well be expected to indulge in abusive criticism either during
or following their transit through Hong Kong. It will not always be easy to identify such travellers in advance but in the case of Japanese we suggest you adopt course proposed in Tokyo telegram No. 367.
(Passed to D.S.A.0. for repetition to
Peking and Tokyo
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267 969 7
CONFIDENTIAL
petition to
/Distribution
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