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Cypher/Cat A
IMMEDIATE HONG KONG TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Telno 140 2 February 1968
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684
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Weekly Assessment as at 29 0600.
Main events:-
66 sticks of
(A) No genuine bombs. Six hoax bombs reported. dynamite surrendered under the terms of the Amnesty as well as
Still no evidence of any more fireworks, weapons and ammunition. coming from Communist sources.
(B) Seven of a group of twenty demonstrating outside a police station were arrested after demanding release of those arrested on 19 January. As a follow-up an orderly deputation visited Police H. Q. to protest. (My telegram 32 refers).
(C) Chinese New Year 'comfort visits' to unemployed workers and families of those killed or imprisoned during Confrontation have been a feature of Communist Union activity together with propagation of Mao's Thoughts and attempts to solicit support for wage increase demands. A further delegation to Labour Department was hostile in its attitude.
(D) 200 'relations' of Confrontation prisoners protested on 27 January at the Social Welfare office about alleged 11-treatment in prisons. One prisoner committed suicide earlier the same day, though events were not apparently connected.
(E) A reduction in activity in Communist schools.
(F) Police persecution, salinity and Government policy towards hawkers and squatters were the main themes in the Communist Press. (G) Minor incidents continued in the Border Area. On 23 January a Gurkha Sapper received a slight hand wound from a stone thrown by a group of ten year old boys in CT: PLA did nothing to stop this but on two other occasions dispersed groups of stone-throwing boys. Also on 23 January, offensive slogans were painted on the British shunting engine. These were erased by us but replaced the next day with threats that further erasure would mean
Official the engine would not be permitted to cross the border. protests have been made to the NCNA here and further erasures deferred until after Chinese New Year.
2. The Communist Labour Movement is laying great emphasis on comfort visits over Chinese New Year: gifts of cash and food and offers of assistance may well persuade former members of Communist Unions to return to the fold. Increasing hostility of delegations
to Government offices suggests an increase in both size and militancy in future.
RECEIVED IN
ARCHIVES No. 63
-5.EB1968
нив
HWB 1/12
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AGE 5.2.
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/3. So