7.
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(a) In that we should be insisting on the prisoners
serving all but two months of their normal
sentences with remission, we could fairly easily
rebut charges of flabbiness in the face of Chinese
pressure,
There are, however, strong arguments against it:-
(a) Since we have taken a firm stand in Hong Kong on
the principle of non-interference with the judicial
processes, it might be undesirable to compromise
that principle simply to settle the Grey affair
two months earlier.
(b)
So far from seeing our act as a gesture of compromise
the Chinese might take it simply as proof that we were in the final instance susceptible to pressure and
that by hanging on to Mr. Grey beyond September,
they might bring us to further concessions in the
matter of other convicted prisonera. I do not
think this risk is great, but regard it as by no
means negligible.
(c) We should face the old difficulty of being asked
by critics here and an tiong Kong about any measures
we had taken to ensure that our gesture would in
fact result in the release of Mr. Grey.
(a) We should have to contend with tiresome criticism
as indeed we could
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along the lines that if a
gesture of clemency were possible in July, why
could we not have spared Mr. Grey suffering by
making the gesture in January.
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