CYPHER CAT A
PRIORITY HONG KONG
CONFIDENTIAL
TOP COPY
70
TO FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
TELE
A NUMBER 2241
7 DECEMBER1968
CONFIDENTIAL
AS
ADDRESSED FCO ÁS MY TELEGRAM NO. 2241 DATED 7TH DECEMBER, REPEATED
FOR INFORMATION TO PEKING.
55
YOUR TELEGRAM NO. 1609, PARAGRAPH 103) AND MY SAVING DESPATCH
NO. 1671, PARAGRAPH 6 : CONFRONTATION PRISONERS.
MY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING TELEGRAM SHOWS THE NUMBER OF CONFRONTATION
PRISONERS THAT WILL STILL BE IN PRISON AT THE END OF THIS YEAR,
TOGETHER WITH THE EXPECTED NUMBER OF RELEASES BY QUARTERS. THESE
FIGURES ARE BASED UPON THE ASSUMPTION THAT FULL REMISSION OF ONE-
THIRD OF THE SENTENCE WILL BE EARNED, BUT THERE MAY OF COURSE BE
SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL NOT EARN FULL REMISSION. YOU WILL SEE THAT
THERE WILL BE 350 CONFRONTATION PRISONERS BY THE END OF 1968 AND
140 BY THE END OF 1969.
2. THE TOTAL OF 350 IS AN INCREASE OF ABOUT 100 OVER INFORMATION
PREVIOUSLY GIVEN, E.G. MY TELEGRAM NO. 186 TO PEKING OF 25TH APRIL.
THE DIFFERENCE IS ACCOUNTED FOR MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE CONVICTION
SINCE THE EARLIER FIGURES WERE COMPILED OF PERSONS WHO COMMITTED
OFFENCES DURING 1967 AND PARTLY BECAUSE THE APRIL FIGURE REFERRED TO
PRISONERS ONLY IN STANLEY AND OMITTED THE OTHER TWO PRISONS.
3. THE PHRASE QUOTE CONFRONTATION PRISONER UNQUOTE INVOLVES AN
ELEMENT OF JUDGMENT BUT BROADLY SPEAKING COVERS PERSONS WITH
COMMUNIST LEANINGS OR ASSOCIATIONS WHO WERE CONVICTED OF OFFENCES
SPECIFICALLY ARISING FROM THE 1967 CONFRONTATION. IT IS POSSIBLE
THAT A SMALL NUMBER OF COMMUNIST SUPPORTERS CONVICTED OF NON-CONFR-
ONTATION OFFENCES MAY BE IN PRISON WHO ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THESE
FIGURES.
LACT
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RECEIVED IN ARCHIVES No.31
기
912
-9DEC 1968
CONFIDENTIAL
HKICK//
4. THERE
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