SECRET
HONG KONG
Meeting of Committee of Under-Secretaries on
12 July in Commonwealth Office
9/5B
The meeting began with Mr. Elliott, Politicial Adviser, Hong Kong, giving his views on the situation in Hong Kong up to last Sunday.
2. He said that his impression was that things were at that time going quite well and there was certainly no need to panic. The local Communists had taken various initiatives, e.g. an attempt to call a general strike and to interrupt supplies of food, but each one had been effectively blocked.
3. The result was that the local Communists were feeling very frustrated. They were aware that they were being given only limited support from the mainland. The P.L.A. was not going to be used to help them and they appeared to realise that they must rely on their own forces to achieve their aims.
4. Mr. Elliott thought that confidence among the local Chinese remained high.
5.
However, Mr. Elliott said that this was now three days
ago and since then there have been various developments reported in Hong Kong telegram No. 1012 which had just arrived. It was clear that the situation was not quietening
down.
The Communists seemed to be adopting tip and run tactics. In these circumstances the Hong Kong Government must take firm action if they were going to retain control of the situation. There had been good evidence in the past that the local Communist leaders had been holding back from using violent measures. But it seemed that they were now prepared increas- ingly to support the middle rank of leaders in using violence.
6. The meeting then turned to considering various measures. The following were discussed:
SECRET
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