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Reference..
Miss Stowe,
Joint Information Policy and Guidance Dept.
Foreign Office,
King Charles Street
An official four-man delegation from the Rural Consultative Council (Heung Yee Kuk) of the New Territories, Hong Kong, has just completed a goodwill visit to this country. The main purpose of the delegation's visit was to make contact with Hong Kong Chinese (particularly those from the New Territories) who are working in Britain; to demonstrate to them the concern of the Hong Kong Government for their wellbeing and to assure the Hong Kong Chinese community in this country that life in the Colony continues in the normal way. The Hong Kong Government felt that such a step was necessary after the recent disturbances in the Colony; the sensational reporting of them and the blandishments of the Communist propaganda which is distributed amongst the Chinese community in Britain.
2.
The delegation had separate meetings with the Secretary of State and the Minister of State (Lord Shepherd) on 21st February. They had come to the meetings prepared with memoranda setting out various points which they wished to bring to the notice of H.M.G. The following is a reproduction of one paragraph from this memoranda:
3.
"Dissemination of information about Hong Kong.
Since the outbreak of the disturbances in Hong Kong last year many distorted reports on the Hong Kong situation have been published in Chinese Communist newspapers air-lifted from Hong Kong to Britain and a considerable volume of Communist propaganda matter has been prepared by either the Communist Legation or the Communists in Hong Kong for widespread distribution to the Chinese in Britain. We understand that the Hong Kong Government has done whatever it could to counteract this adverse publicity about Hong Kong and has sent a young capable administrator, Mr. David Lai, to this country to review the present set-up of the Hong Kong Chinese Laison Office and to study the problems faced by the Hong Kong Chinese residing in Britain. Mr. Lai is fully aware of the importance of keeping the Chinese in Britain and the British public in general well informed of the actual situation in Hong Kong and would, no doubt, look into this question in detail. However, we would like to ask if Her Majesty's Government can help in any way in this direction through, for example, radio and television media, as a supplement to the efforts which we are making in Hong Kong, through the London office".
The Secretary of State gave the delegation an undertaking that the points which they had raised would be considered and that a reply would be sent to them. We are now in the process of preparing a draft Saving Despatch to the Governor in Hong Kong. This Saving Despatch will enclose copies of the memoranda left behind here by the delegation; it will seek the Governor's advice as to the terms of reply which should be sent to them and it will, at the same time, contain our comments on the various matters concerned.
It will be appreciated if you could let us have your advice as to the form of the reply that should be sent to the point raised by the delegation in the passage quoted above,
/together
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