Ed. (3746)
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
BY BAG on Saturday, 4 January 1969.
DRAFT
letter
To:-
Type 1 +
From
Sir David Trench, G.C.M.G., M.C. Government House,
Hong Kong.
W. S. CARTER
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
125
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.P.s 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.P.s 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.
But clearly there should
be a limit to the number of M. Ps' visits; а
steady stream of visiting M.P.s might be exploited
for communist propaganda purposes and could well
have an unsettling effect on the detainees.
It might therefore be emphasised to Anthony
Royle, when conceding his request, that the visit
/is being