(b) obtaining some assurance that such an act
of clemency would secure the release of
Mr. Grey. There would seem to be no way of
overcoming this latter difficulty.
he are still, however, at stage (a).
14. If we have not secured the release of
r. Grey by the beginning of November, we
Consider with
shall have to feeido-wh-the- the Governor Whether such should nevertheless be granted should nevertheless want only fo
Tull
ssion
allowed
remittance and let him out, in the hope that
this might conceivably bring about the release
of Grey. On the other hand, we might well be
criticised if, with Mr. Grey still in the
hands of the Chinese, we let Hsueh out before
his full sentence þad expired, and it might be
argued that his continued detention provided
us with means of pressure on the Chinese either
to release Mr. Grey or to get into negotiations
with us about it. But this is a problem for
later.
15. At this stage the need is to review the
situation with the Governor. If as a result
of that review, an act of clemency is still
considered to be out of the question, the most
that we shall be able to reply to Mr. Long is
that we are constantly on the watch for
opportunities to help Mr. Grey and will
continue to do so, but that an act of clemency,
while always under consideration, would not
him
necessarily help ry and would in our
view be premature.