PA
tha
Cypher
TON
60
CONFIDENTIAL
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (The Secretary of State)
FROM HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
D. 18 May, 1967.
11 R. 18
11202
RECEIVED [1 ARCHIVES M
18 MATCOM
HWA 3/2
IMMEDIATE
CONFIDENTIAL
No. 633
(59)
SG)
Addressed to Commonwealth Office Repeated
tl
#
Lisbon No. M3 21
(S. of S. please pass IMMEDIATE) and by saving to Peking and POLAD Singapore.
Your telegram No. 940.
Macao Consulate.
LAST
REF
59
A.F.
راما
You will by now have seen my telegram No. 616. Ions was able to slip across for the day on 16 May but does not anticipate being able to do so again for at least several days. Our information from him therefore is a little scrappy since we can only communicate by open telephone.
2.
He has been able to discuss further the matter of protection for the officers and staff with the Governor and has agreed a plan of action should the situation get out of hand. Until that point is reached both Ions and the Portuguese are of the view that the interests of all would be served by having minimal Portuguese presence near the offices.
We do not think that there is anything further that need be said to the Portuguese in Lisbon at this stage.
3.
The general situation at the moment is that the permit office is being allowed to function more or less normally (it having been made clear to the mobs that it was not in their interests to interfere with the issue of permits of visits to Hong Kong). The Consulate is also functioning, but the Consul or the Vice Consul is being forced to stand outside the office to receive notes of protest from a continuous succession of delegations. The handing over of these protests is accompanied by chanting of slogans and recited "quotations" from Chairman Mao. So far the delegations and the spectators have been under good control although of course it would only need a minor incident to make the pot boil over. Ions and his staff seem to have behaved in an exemplary manner in dealing with this extremely trying and worrying situation.
(Passed to D.S.A.0. for repetition to Lisbon)
19.5,47
CONFIDENTIAL
/Distribution