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SECRET
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IMMEDIATE HONG KONG TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Telno 370
SECRET
25 March 1968
Addressed to Commonwealth Office telegram No. 370 of
25 March
Repeated for information to POLAD Singapore, Peking, Washington and Canberra
For Commonwealth Office and Cabinet Office for JIC. Following from LIC.
Weekly assessment of the situation as at 0600 hours 25 March follows in two parts (Part 1 only for Canberra and Peking).
"VED IN
Part 1.
The principal features of the period have been:
(a) A work stoppage on 10 March affecting about 70% of the 700 dual purpose vehicle (DPV) drivers operating between Kowloon and the New Territories in protest against 'victimisations by police' and the court case against a DPV driver (telegram No. 279 refers). The internal services in Kowloon and the N.T. were also affected but to a much lesser degree. There were no untoward incidents and normal services were resumed in the afternoon.
'ES No.63
DOMARIOS
LIWA 13
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(b) Two minor incidents involving harassment of
police. During the first, on 19 March a group of 50 students from a Communist controlled school jeered and jostled a police constable. Two arrests were made. During the second, on 22 March, a Communist supporter injured with a hammer a P.C. involved in taking summons action against a taxi driver and was arrested. (c) Visits to Government Offices by six orderly
delegations from Communist Unions to condemn Government's policy on importation of 'gift rice' and to protest over unemployment in the building industry.
(a)
A meeting held by a Communist Dock Workers Union
at which a call for members to return to work met with bitter objections. No decision was reached. Meanwhile, the major Communist Transport Union has approached a number of taxi companies to seek the reinstatement of dismissed drivers; completely unsuccessful in all but two cases where the
/companies
SECRET
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