SECRET
152
Cypher/Cat.A
IMMEDIATE
HONG KONG
ΤΟ
COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(D.T.D.)
HW
Telno. 1633
3 November 1967
TOP COPY
SECRET
Addressed Commonwealth Office telegram No. 1633
of 3 November.
Repeated for information to POLAD Singapore, Peking and Washington.
For Galsworthy.
150
Your telegram No. 2241: Hong Kong Border.
When we rang NCNA contact to make enquiry he told us that he had no formal reply to our question and indicated that he did not expect one. Chinese attitude was that they had asked us to go over for talks and they were expecting them to be held on their side.
Message
2. It is clearly very unlikely that we shall get any more satisfactory answer than thus, and I see little advantage in delaying a second meeting in the hope of obtaining one. 649 on the lines of paragraph 3 of my telegram No.1629 (as amended
by you) was therefore passed to contact.
3. The basic point is that the rice harvest is due in a very few days and the peasants at Man Kam To are likely to become more and more agitated. If PLA are unable or unwilling to restrain them there could be a serious incident which would put paid to talks indefinitely. In any case, we cannot assume that the present "moderate" attitude will long prevail on the Chinese side, The Hong Kong militants are almost certainly opposed to the principle of talks especially about the border, where they consider us to be most vulnerable, and if we appeared to delay or to be prevaricating for reasons of form rather than substance we might find ourselves playing into their hands.
4. A further talk will therefore be held this afternoon at the same place, but our negotiator (Kinghorn District Commissioner New Territories supported by Assistant District Commissioner and Assistant Political Adviser) has been instructed to continue to express disappointment at lack of reasonable explanation for non- agreement to alternate venues. He has also been told that, if final agreement is not reached today, he is to say he will have to seek instructions about another meeting which, in any case, could probably not be before Monday, This should have the double effect of keeping the border quiet over the weekend (when incidents have been more frequent and meeting your point about playing a little harder to get.
356.
Foreign Office pass Priority Peking No.605 and to Washington
Sir D. Trench
[Repetition to Peking referred for
departmental decision, repeated as requested to other posts]
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