1,500M 2/69 Hw.
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(118281) Dd. 391599
SECRET & PERSONAL
L
Regist No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
DRAFT
To:-
Letter
E. Youde, Esq., C.M.G., M.B.E. No. 10 Downing Street, S.W.1.
Type 1 +
From
Private Secretary
Telephone No, & Ext.
Department
In Confidence
Copy to: D. G. Jones, Esq.,
Cabinet Office.
In your letter of 5 May you reported that the
Prime Minister thought that an early initiative should
be taken on Grey, particularly in view of the way the
Brooke case was developing.
2.
As you will have seen from the press there have
been recent developments in Hong Kong relevant to the
Grey case. On 9 May the Hong Kong Government
announced the first results of a review of the sentencou
on long-term prisoners convicted for offences arising
out of the troubles in 1967. Those who had their
sentences reduced included
one of the
eleven imprisoned newsworkers whom the Chinese have
linked with Grey.
had his sentence reduced
from five to three years, which means that he should be
released with full remission on 4 October. The other
ten newsworkers are already due out at various dates in
By the first week in October therefore all
eleven will be out of prison. In their statement last
December, the Chinese said that "since the Hong Kong
September.
British authorities continue to keep 13 now 11
patriotic Chinese journalists in jail, the Chinese
Government is fully justified in continuing to restrict
Grey's freedom of movment". Thus the release of the
eleven will deprive the Chinese of the only justificati
ORDET A Prasek