isk that they will hold him even after the
Eventually
two N.C.N.A. correspondents are released in
^
Hong Kong.
(Hong Kong Tel. No. 803);
Mr.
Grey was originally held in retaliation only for
the arrest of one of these.
30
Sir D. Hopson has now telegraphed again
with the observationg that it is too late in
}
the day to delude the Chinese about our
anxieties over Mr. Grey; and that Public and Parliamentary interest in his case in
the United Kingdom in any case precludes a
show of disinterest. Sir D. Hopson points
out that he has already pressed, without
success, for non-consular visits by a friend
to Mr. Grey and reiterates the question of
whether he may now propose another round of
special visits in Hong Kong, on the same terms
as before, and on the understanding that he
or a member of his staff/ would be permitted
another visit to Mr. Grey (Peking Tel. No.
596).
Recommendation
4.
I recommend that we support Sir D.
Hopson's proposal. A draft telegram is
attached. The Commonwealth Office concur.
Background
50
At the time of Sir D. Hopson's first
(23 Apil) visit to Mr. Grey/we judged that no further
Grey we
visit would be permitted without a further
round of visits to the two N.C.N.A.
correspondents and eighteen other "patriotic newspaper workers" imprisoned in Hong Kong
(Mr. Murray's submission of 2 May, attached,
In an interview granted to the Counsellor
in Peking by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
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