From FON-JEW
Fo
CONFIDENTIAL
(10/10)
Dear James,
Lay to He hage t
Difenu bor
BRITISH EMBASSY,
WASHINGTON D.C.
29 May 1968
Saki Santon
As Boyd
Bagh/ Mo Willen.
Jams
Wanay.
Donal
ift There.
199..
I took the opportunity of a talk with Dick Donald on 29 May on another subject to mention to him the question of U.S. Haval visits to Hong Kong and its impact upon our Mission in Peking,
I said that I had particularly in present circumstances. received no instructions on the subject,but that I thought there was a feeling that perhaps there had been too many big ship visits in recent weeks and that it would be a good thing if the attention of those concerned in the Navy Department was drawn to the Guidelines and more particularly to point D therein. Donald was, I think, aware already that the Peking recommendation had been that Enterprise's visit should be put off, but that both the Governor and the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices had decided against this. He was not only grateful for this, but glad to know that, so far at least, there had been no grisly repercussions. His own telegrams from Hong Kong seemed to describe the local scene in much the same terms as has the Governor. He too expected the Chinese to represent the departure of Enterprise as the result of Lo Kuei-po's representations to Donald Hopson and he hoped that would be the end of it.
2. There is no doubt at all that the Americans are grateful for the way in which the Governor continues to handle calls by U.S. ships, I do not think that politically we shall have any difficulty with the Americans if he should decide to ask for their big ship visits to be spaced out rather more generously than they are at present or have been in the recent past. matter is very much one between the U.S. Navy and our authorities in Hong Kong in which the State Department play little part. think, however, that we can count on their sympathy if we have to be a little bit more difficult in weeks to come.
Yours eve',
Michael Wilfe
James Murray, Esq.,C.M.G.,
Far Eastern Department
Foreign Office.
GAK.
(K.M. Wilford)
T.A.K. Elliott, Esq., Hong Kong
P. Cradock, Esq., C.M.G., Peking
R.A. Hibbert, Esq.,C.M.G., Singapore
The
I
VED IN ..35 No. 63
CONFIDENTIAL
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