CYPHER/CAT A
TIMEDIATE HONG KONG
CONFIDEN ITAL
TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
TELEGRAM NUMDER 363
22 MARCH 1968
390
мн
CONFIDENTIAL
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ADDRESSED CO TELEGRAM NO. 363 OF 22ND MARCH REPEATED PEKING.
387
MY TELEGRAM NO. 357: PRISON VISITS.
A FURTHER MEETING WAS HELD WITH NCNA ON MARCH 21ST. POLITICAL ADVISER PUT FORWARD A PROGRAMME (WORKED OUT IN ACCORDANCE
323)
WITH THE POINTS MADE IN PEKING ON THE LIVES OF PARA. 1(A) OF YOUR TELEGRAM NO. 3470 FOR VISITS EARLY NEXT WEEK TO 14 OF THE PRISONERS. HE POINTED OUT THAT OF CHINESE LIST OF 22 ONE HAD ALREADY BEEN RELEASED SEMICOLON 5 WERE LABOURERS (EMPLOYED GY WEN WEI PAO) AND 2 CAGED 17 AND 14) WERE NEWSPAPER SELLERS ONLY. NONE OF THESE WERE BONA-FIDE JOURNALISTS AND THEY WERE THEREFORE INELIGIBLE FOR VISITS UNDER THE PEKING PROPOSALS.
2. NCMA CONCEDE THE IMPORTANT POINT THAT VISITS SHOULD BE TO INDIVIDUALS, NOT GROUPS. BUT THEY SAID THAT THE PROGRAMME WAS UNACCEPTABLE BECAUSE:-
(A) THEY CONSIDERED THE NUMBER OF VISITORS SHOULD BE FOUR
NOT TWO. (THEY POINTED OUT THAT THREE PEOPLE MIGHT GO ON NORMAL
VISITS TO PRISONERS).
(B) THEIR INSTRUCTIONS WERE THAT ALL 'PATRIOTIC NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES' WERE ELIGIBLE FOR VISITS.
IN ADDITION, THEY REPEATED (THOUGH WITHOUT MUCH ARGUMENT) THEIR DEMAND (C) TO BE ALLOWED TO BRING IN THE WORKS OF MAO AS GLETS
RECEIVED, IN ARCHIVES No, 63
MAR 1968
TO PRISONERS.
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CONFIDENTIAL