CONFIDENTIAL
BRIEFING NOTES FOR THE UK MISSION TO THE UNITED NACIONS NEW YORK ON HONG KONG
Political Situation:
The local Communists virtually eschewed violence
throughout 1968 in their confrontation with the authorities.
There were, however, indications that the local Communist
leadership had some difficulty in restraining their more
militant supporters on certain occasions; and there were minor
incidents when the Police were obstructed in the performance of
their day to day duties. The Communists have however shown no
signs whatever of abandoning their long term idealogical
"struggle" for the hearts and minds of the masses; and they
have lost no opportunity of criticising the Government on what-
ever grounds appear to offer the best chance of success at any
given time. This policy is clearly related to the total failure
on the part of the Communists to enlist any public support or
sympathy for their cause during the disturbances which
occurred in the Colony during 1967.
Out of the total of fifty-four persons who were detained
under emergency regulations as a result of their participation
in the 1967 disturbances, all but four have now been released.
At the end of 1968 some three hundred and fifty prisoners
convicted of offences during the disturbances (out of the
original total of fifteen hundred persons convicted of such
offences) were still serving prison sentences. The Communists
have shown particular interest in the fate of eleven of these
convicted prisoners whom they describe as "patriotic newsworkers"