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The recent Chinese decision to grant exit visas to members of the staff
in Peking without any significant concession being granted in Hong Kong
tends to support the Governor's view that visits should continue more
or less at the present level. I therefore consider that we should
accept the Governor's recommendation in this sense, subject to the
reservations on the "Enterprise" and on the spacing of nuclear visits.
9. If we are to continue as before, there seems no reason to renego-
tiate the guidelines. For the reasons given by Aashington and Hong
Kong, it would at any rate be undesirable to do so at this juncture.
Sir D. Hopson's strong support for renegotiation was no doubt the
result in part of an understandable anxiety to do everything possible
to break the deadlock over exit visas. Informal discussions with the
Americane would however be useful.
10. If the recommendations in this submission are accepted the pro-
posed programme of visits by American vessels to Hong Kong đuring
August and September (Hong Kong telegram No. 905 to the C.0.) would
nɔ
raise no difficulty in principle. Te do not however wish to do any-
thing which might risk oresting a new situation in which the Chinese
might claim justification for going back on their undertaking about
exit visas. The first ship due under the dew programme is the
"America" (10-16 August). It is a strike oarrier and thus "potentially
controversial" according to the definition of categories of vessels made
by the Governor (paragraph 6 "hove). I have therefore nent a personal
Flag G teleɛram to the Political Adviser in Hong Kong asking if it can be
ascertained whether the Americans could, without grave inconvenience
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