CONFIDENTIAL
254
TOP COPY
PA
15.09.
Cypher/Cat A
HONG KONG
TO
COMMONWEALTH OFFICI
Teino 541
30 April 1968
RECEIVED IN ARCHIVES No. 63
- 1 MAY 1983
HWA 4/1
CONFIDENTIAL
W
Addressed to Commonwealth Office telegram No. 241 of
30 April,
Repeated for information to Peking.
Hong Kong provides shunting engines to move rolling stock between Chinese marshalling yards at Shum Chun and our station at Lo Wu, as well as two mail wagons between Kowloon and Canton.
2. Since June 1967 slogans attacking the Hong Kong Government, including the Governor and other senior officers personally, as well as general slogans praising the Communist regime have been regularly painted on the mail wagons and shunting engines, as well as on Chinese rolling stock coming into Hong Kong. Slogans on mail wagons and on Chinese rolling stock have ceased, but the shunting engine remains a problem. During the summer crews were frequently harassed, made to get down from the cab, chant slogans and put on Mao badges, and were threatened and warmed of the personal consequences if the slogans painted on the engine were defaced. For maintenance purposes the engine is changed over from time to time. When last changed on 27 March a batch of fresh slogans was painted on the replacement locomotive. They included
no personal attacks but there were two anti-British statements.
3. Had we refused to send engines across the border this would certainly last year have resulted in serious disruption of food and other supplies from China. Because the engine operates in the border closed area there has been no adverse publicity. For these reasons we confined our action to sending letters to the Canton Railways Administration pointing out the cost involved in repainting.
4.
On 11 March our General Manager Railways wrote again to his counterpart in Canton seeking his cooperation in stopping this activity on the border and suggesting that the Chinese might in future have to provide the shunting engines if slogans continued to appear.
5. A reply dated 2 April from Canton the first answer to be received - said that the blame rested solely on the Hong Kong Government because of its oppression of the Chinese in Hong Kong. No reference was made to the Chinese assuming responsibility for shunting.
6. We have now arranged to change the shunting engine again on the night 5/6 May. If the new engine returns painted with slogans it is intended that the General Manager of the Railway should send a further letter to Canton reiterating our complaint, asking for
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