Far Eastern Department
13
C.C.
Mr. Anthony Grey
Mr. Gerald Long, the General Manager of Reuters, who is to call on the Secretary of State tomorrow afternoon, telephoned to me this morning. He said that he thought it right to warn me before he saw the Secretary of State that his attitude on the Grey case might be undergoing a change. For some time now he had had reservations about the policy of the Hong Kong Government. I would have seen the letter in today's Times from Mr. John Rear. While Mr. Long did not accept everything said in that letter, he might in certain circum- stances feel bound to probe into the Hong Kong Government's policy on detentions. He would be under strong pressure to do so if Hsueh Ping were released and Mr. Grey continued in detention.
2. I thanked Mr. Long for speaking so frankly, and said that I hoped the Secretary of State, who had recently had a long discussion with Sir David Trench, would be able to reassure him about the Hong Kong Government's policies. Mr. Long admitted, as he had done in several previous conversations with me, that he had a strong sense of personal guilt over Anthony Grey, and he hoped we would make allowances for the strain this case caused him. I asked Mr. Long to be assured that we fully understood his very difficult position.
3.
In briefing the Secretary of State for tomorrow's talk with Mr. Long, would you please cover the points recorded above and include a note on Mr. Rear.
Secretary of State
Sir J. Johnston Mr. Moreton News Department
(D.J.D. Maitland) 11 November, 1968.
Sir A. Galsworthy Hong Kong Department
A Barley
For detaiives
file. ANO 11.68 M... Gammara