CONFIDENTIAL
1125
10 January, 1969
In telegram No.1674 I indicated that I would be reporting Lord Shepherd's views on Anthony Royle's request to visit the detention centre when he is in, Hong Kong later this month.
In the Minister's view there may be, on balance, some advantage in permitting one or two M.Ps. to visit the centre. They would see for themselves the conditions of confinement and be able to answer from first-hand knowledge the doubts and queries of fellow Members. A case for allowing special access by representative M.Ps. could rest, we feel, on the constitutional argument that ultimate responsibility for the good government of Hong Kong rests with Parliament and that its Members have a special status. This special status could be argued against any attempt to cite such visits as precedents supporting requests for visits from communist or other organisations. clearly there should be a limit to the number of M.Ps. visits; steady stream of visiting M.Ps. might be exploited for communist propaganda purposes and could well have an unsettling effect on the detainees,
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It might therefore be emphasised to Royle, when conceding his request, that the visit is being arranged for him in his representative capacity as Chairman of the Anglo-Hong Kong Parliamentary Group and that you would hope not to receive requests from other Members; these you would find it difficult to agree to and would probably have to refuse. If it so happened that you later received a request for a matching visit by a Labour M.P., this could perhaps be met by allowing a visit by one of the three Labour M.Ps. who, we understand, will be visiting Hong Kong about Easter (preferably a member of the Parliamentary Group). Onee again it would be necessary to emphasise the representative nature of the visit. Thereafter it should be possible to stand firm against further requests, stressing that visits by two representative Members had taken place and that the maintenance of reasonable and satisfactory conditions at the centre is vouchsafed by periodic visits from a representative of the International Red Cross.
Lord Shepherd took the opportunity to touch upon the proposed visit to the detainees when Royle called here on Wednesday. The Minister suggested that if you accede to Royle's request, it might take away some of the emphasis of a special visit if he were to see the detainees after visiting one of the local prisons: in short, to see the detainees during a general look at the Hong Kong penal system.
You will no doubt be taking an early opportunity to talk this over with Royle after his arrival.
His Excellency
Sir David Trench, GCMG., MC.,
Government House,
Hong Kong.
(W. S. Carter)
CONFIDENTIAL