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on 21 July the Foreign Secretary raised with the Home Secretary
the possibility of taking certain action against N.C.N.A. in
London (see his minute of 19 July). The Home Secretary's reply
dated 1 August was unhelpful. What it amounted to was that the
Home Secretary had powers to harass non-diplomatic Chinese,
e.g. members of N.C.N.A., by ordering them to report to the police ("restriction on residence") and to prevent them from
leaving the country or to oblige them to do so by withdrawing
their residence permits.
these powers because he thought that it could not be justified
as "necessary in the public interest" to restrict residence or
"conducive to the public good" to deport. In the case of
leaving the country there was a loophole in that there were no
immigration controls for departure to Ireland via the West coast.
4. The Foreign Secretary minuted again to the Home Secretary
on 14 August, urging certain immediate action against N.C.N.A.,
i.e. the withholding of entry visas for new personnel and a delay
in the extension of the residence permit for one employee and the
institution of a system of exit visas. The Secretary of State
also pointed out that in certain circumstances if the Chinese
took further action against Mr. Grey there would be strong
parliamentary and public pressure to take immediate action
against the N.C.N.A. in London by expelling all expatriate
staff. He asked the Home Secretary to reconsider his position
on this (paragraph 6 of the Secretary of State's minute under
reference).
He was, however, unwilling to exercise
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