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12. As regards (b) Far Eastern Department continue to stress that
prisoners in Hong Kong are, from the Chinese point of view, the
crux of Sino-British relations. They believe that the release of
the remaining detainees, while unlikely of itself to secure the
release of Mr. Grey and other British subjects, would improve the
atmosphere and help towards a solution of outstanding problems.
13. As regards (c) there has been some correspondence on this
subject in the Press, originated by legal circles in Hong Kong.
Parliamentary interest in the detainees has taken the form of a
series of Farliamentary Questions concerned principally with the
details of detention and with the procedures and facilities available
to detainees for the review of their cases. They have been answered
without difficulty. The need to take the power of detention to deal with the situation confronting the authorities in 1967 has not been queried. Its retention today (after violence has ceased for over a year) in order to provide for the continged detention of a few "hard core" militant communists is not likely to be widely
questioned provided this is justified solely on the threat they
personally pose to security and no grounds are given for public
supposition that detainees are perhaps being held as political pawns or as hostages for communist good behaviour. A major difficulty arises in answering the question why these people cannot be dealt
with in the courts. The essential point is that detainees against
whom admissible evidence could be obtained of involvement in
specific offences would have been charged and tried in the Courts. They have been detained under emergency powers because such evidence of direct participation in illegal acts has not been forthcoming, although it has been known on reliable information (some of which comes from delicate sources which must be protected), that they have
played a part behind the scenes in planning and organising such acts. We cannot say all this publicly, but there has been no disposition so far to press the Questions asked on this point.
/ 14.
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