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Lord Shepherd on 9 January;
Foreign Affairs in Peking by
Mr. Cradock on 11 February;
at an interview at the Ministry of
our outgoing Charge d'Affaires,
and at the initial interview of his
successor, Mr. Denson, with the West European Department of
the Ministry on 8 March. On the last occasion the Chinese
told Mr. Denson categorically that Mr. Grey now had access to
his own library on the first floor of his house.
Visits
7.
Mr. Long may raise the question of a further exchange of
visits (by the Charge d'Affaires in Peking to Mr. Grey and by
representatives of the New China News Agency in Hong Kong to
the eleven imprisoned news workers). Clearly we cannot rule
out a further exchange of this kind. But the following points
have to be borne in mind:-
(a)
Each
We wish to keep such exchanges within bounds.
visit by the N.C.N.A. representatives in Hong Kong
to the convicted news workers provides the communiste
with a propaganda victory; suggests that we are ready
to discriminate in favour of certain categories of
prisoner;
and reinforces in quasi-consular standing
of the N.C.N.A. in Hong Kong.
(b) A further visit to Mr. Grey will inevitably generate
In the
a new wave of public concern for his plight.
glare of publicity it will be harder to m-ke the discreet
arrangements proposed by the Governor for shortening the
sentence of the eleventh news worker.
(c) We shall do Mr. Grey no service if we visit him before
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