Emergency ñegulations.
Nevertheless, in commenting on the
offences we must tread warily and avoid suggesting that the
imprisoned news workers are more dangerous than they really are.
Te have so far been reluct\nt to contemplate their premature
release. This would be a bad precedent, and would be
construed both by the Communiste uod by opinion in Nong Kong
and the .k. as a sign of weakness. Revertheless, their
release is possibly (though, of course, not certainly) the
price for the release of r. Grey.
accordingly, we may yet
be brought to this course by humanitarian or tactical
considerations,
If so we should be obligad, for presentational
purposes, to strike rather a different note in our publ10
we might wish to prevent our caree slong
announcements.
the following lines:
"These men are not so very dangerous, they have committed
crimes, but not crimes of violence, their release, particularly
since they have served the greater part of their sentences, can
hardly be construed as a threat to order in Hong Kong or as an
act of cupitulation by 5.3.0. Indeed, it is because the
Cousuniste suffered such a set-back in Hong Kong in 1967 and
because the position of the administration there remaine so
very strong, that we are able to contemplate an act of this
kind, in the humanitarian interest of securing the release of
Mr. Grey and do the wider interest of getting relations baok
to normal with the Chinese.'
*
CONTAJENT