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Cypher
16
CONFIDENTIAL
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (The Secretary of State)
FROM HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
D. 17th January 1967 R. 17th
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RECEIVED IN
| ARCHIVES No. 63| 20 JAN. 967
HWB2|1
COM FOR MOUDERATION
10.30 hrs.
PRIORITY
No.70
CONFIDENTIAL
Addressed to Commonwealth Office
20
Repeated
"Manila No.7
It
11 Seoul No.2
17
"Saigon No.6
(Commonwealth Office please pass to all)
Manila telegram No.2 to Hong Kong.
Rest and recreation in Hong Kong for Philippine troops
from Vietnam.
Unfortunately, this raises a genuine problem for us.
2. Not only are Philippine troops involved in this arrangement. Evidence is accumulating that some U.S. agency in Vietnam has been planning to include both Korean and Philippine servicemen in the regular U.S. rest and recreation flights here from Vietnam. We learn from H.M. Embassy Saigon, that the Korean Vice-Consul there has asked for permission for the Koreans to travel here on identity documents: and has said that "regiments" of them may be arriving as from the New Year. However, the Hong Kong Government has never been consulted about these plans by any U.S. agency: and the U.S. Consulate here deny all knowledge of what is proposed.
3. As you know, we have been under constant pressure from the Chinese about rest and recreation facilities for U.S. servicemen from Vietnam. We have been able to get away with things so far because it has for so many years been the accepted practice for U.S. troops from all over South East Asia to use Hong Kong as a leave centre and because the U.S. servicemen on leave have been (a) well superintended and disciplined and (b) rich. As a result, their visits have been relatively inconspicuous and few disciplinary problems have arisen. To allow Korean, Philippine or South Vietnamese troops to come here regularly would be an obvious departure from the "status quo" and would no doubt be pounced upon by the Chinese as evidence that Hong Kong was becoming more and more closely involved in the war in Vietnam. Moreover, we could not expect servicemen from these countries to be anything like as well disciplined as the Americans and difficulties would certainly arise about such matters as the authority of the military police to deal with them.
CONFIDENTIAL
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