Registry No.
DRAFT LETTER
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
To:-
Top Secret. Secret.
Confidential.
Sir Charles Taylor, T.D.,
D.L., M.P.,
1
House of Commons,
Type 1 +
205
From
Lord Shepherd
Telephone No. & Ext.
Restricted Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
..In Confidence
Flag A
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LONDON, S.W.1.
Department
I am replying to your letter of the
19th February to Maurice Foley, with which
you enclosed a copy of a letter written to the
"Times" from Mr. John Rear of Hong Kong.
May
ave seen the reply
I do not know if you have
to Mr. Rear's letter from Mr. P. C. M.
Sedgwick, Director of the Hong Kong Government
Office in London, which was published in the
But it case you din nut "Times" on the 14th November, 1968. I enclose
a copy of that reply. I think that
Mr. Sedgwick's letter makes it clear that no
direct parallel can be drawn between the
detention of Mr. Grey in Peking and the
detention in Hong Kong of a number of persons
who actively participated in the violent
disturbances which occurred in the Colony during
1967.
5 am
aware
However, I realise that concern has been
Should
expressed in some quarters at the fact that
Some
to be detamed these persons have continued in detention under
emergency legislation, without trial, although
organised violence in the Colony has now ceased.
Neither we nor the Governor have any wish what-
ever that these people should remain in
detention a moment longer than is necessary.
The process of releasing the detainees has in
fact been in progress since September, 1967,
and only four of them now remain in detention:
they will be released as soon as the security
W(B)L 51-74 33
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