CYPHER/CAT A
FLASH HONG KONG
TELNO 637
SECRET
SECRET
TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
20 MAY 1968
172
PERSONAL FOR MURRAY, FAR EASTERN DEPARTMENT, FROM ELLIOTT.
((IA)
YOUR TELEGRAM 900 : U.S.S. ENTERPRISE.
IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKELY THAT THERE WILL BE A FUSS. THE QUESTION
IS WHETHER THIS WILL AMOUNT TO MORE THAN A RELATIVELY SHORT-LIVED
PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN OF A SORT TO WHICH WE HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED.
IN PEKING THERE COULD BE A NOTE OF PROTEST: BUT IT SEEMS IMPROBABLE
THAT THIS WILL HAVE MORE ''TEETH'' THAN THE TWO SIMILAR NOTES IN THE.
PAST, WHICH IN EFFECT WE IGNORED WITHOUT INCURRING SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. IN HONG KONG THE WORST THAT WE CAN ENVISAGE HAPPENING
WOULD BE SOME KIND OF DEMONSTRATIONS, E.G. AGAINST THE UNITED
STATES CONSULATE-GENERAL: BUT GIVEN THE PRESENT COMMUNIST POLICY
OF KEEPING THINGS QUIET ON THE GROUND HERE, THE LOCAL LEADERSHIP
DO NOT SEEM VERY LIKELY TO FACE THE RISKS INVOLVED IN STAGING
THESE. THEY HAVE NOT GOT ANYTHING LIKE THE CORPS OF EXPERIENCED
AND TOUGH COMMUNIST ''DEMONSTRATORS' AVAILABLE IN JAPAN.
2.
*
THERE WAS ONE ARTICLE IN THE LOCAL COMMUNIST PRESS DURING THE WEEK-END ABOUT THE SASEBO INCIDENTS, BUT NO MAJOR PRESS CAMPAIGN
HAS DEVELOPED AS YET.
LAST REF.
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