PP
Cypher/Cat A
Mr. Copy a HWA14/12
CONFIDENTIAL
IMMEDIATE HONG KONG TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (DTD)
Telno 1922
28 December 1967
225
CONFIDENTIAL
Addressed to Commonwealth Office telegram No. 1922 of 28 December.
Repeated for information to Peking,
(223)
Peking telegram No. 375: Prison Visits.
From our point of view it would be preferable if, in speaking to the Chinese on lines of paragraph 5 of our telegram No. 1910, Her Majesty's Charge did not in so many words link permission for an extra visit to the two NUNA reporters with concessions to Grey; (it might be incorrect for the prison authorities to take Grey's treatment into account formally when deciding whether or not to allow the NCNA visit). But the elements of a bargain could probably be made pretty clear to the Chinese without actually spelling the matter out.
2. We would also hope that the point would be made that the actual request for the NCNA visit must come from the prisoners. There is some evidence that pro-Communist prisoners are becoming disillusioned about their former associates; and we need to have a safeguard against Communists outside prison pressing their attentions on prisoners who do not want to receive them.
3. We would see no objection to Her Majesty's Charge speaking on clothing as he suggests. On foodstuffs, however, there appear on further examination to be real difficulties. If the Communists were to be permitted to send in food parcels to prisoners at large. they would be presented with something out of which they could make substantial propaganda capital; while to allow them to send parcels to the NCNA reporters only would be very difficult to justify in principle. It might be best therefore for Her Majesty's Charge to avoid this issue if he can manage to do so, and to concentrate on the general issue of visits.
4.
On the general issue, to arrange for the two NCNA prisoners to be housed separately would involve considerable practical difficulties, in any case it would not be possible to find any convincing public justification at this late stage for suddenly affording them special treatment.
5. The NCNA are now pressing us for an early reply. We shall do our best to stall until the matter has been discussed in Peking; but from our point of view the sooner it is raised there the better.
Foreign Office please pass Immediate to Peking as my telegram No. 679.
Sir D. Trench
[Repetition to Peking, referred for
departmental decision]
DEPARTMENTAL DISTRIBUTION
C.O. H.K.Dept.
Consular Dept. News Dept.
F.O. F.E.D.
News Dept. J.1.R.D.
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CONFIDENTIAL (can
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