Cypher
IMMEDIATE SECRET No. 94
SECRET
OUTWARD TELEGRAM
FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(The Secretary of State)
TO HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
Sent 15th January, 1967. 00.47 hrs.
Addressed to Governor, Hong Kong Repeated IMMEDIATE to Peking
It
#7
#1 Washington 11 Lisbon
Your telegrams Nos. 54-57.
Macao.
RECEIVED IN
ARCHIVES No. 63
16 JANI967
HUB3/3
Before we received your telegram No. 57 Portuguese Ambassador called at Foreign Office and left an aide memoire (text in my immediately following telegram).
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2. When Ambassador handed over note he was asked whether:
(a) he could give any idea of numbers involved
(b)
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it was contemplated that only civilians of Portuguese nationality would be evacuated.
The Ambassador said that the request referred to civilians and that he did not know what the numbers would be. On the question of nationality he said that it was possible that people in Macao who were not Portuguese nationals might in such an emergency apply to be included in the evacuation and he added that there were persons in Macao who were possibly not regarded as persona grata by the C.P.G.
3. Clearly this matter will have to be considered by Ministers. In submitting to Ministers we will base ourselves on your telegram No. 57, more particularly the points in paragraph 2.
4. Meanwhile we are putting the following points to the Ambassador:-
(a)
(b)
can he enlarge on the first paragraph of his aide memoire explaining what leads his government to expect violence, where the negotiations now stand and what prospects there are of a negotiated settlement?
does the wording of paragraph 2 of aide memoire mean that the Portuguese Government has already decided to evacuate civilians and, if not, at what stage they would contemplate doing this?
(c) can he now give us a clearer indication of the
numbers likely to be involved?
(a) can he tell us more precisely what categories
of persons with regard both to nationality and race would be involved?
LAST REF.
Af.
SECRET
/(e)