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immediately release all the remaining patriotic compatriots.
If the Hong Kong British authorities would take more positive
steps in this direction, Mr. Ma believed that the case of
Mr. Johnston would be settled.
6. Sir Stanley Tomlinson said that he welcomed what Mr. Ma
had said about the Chinese Government's desire to improve
relations. This was a desire strongly shared by us. The
prisoners convicted in Hong Kong in 1967 were tried in open
court, according to the normal legal processes.
They were
given every opportunity to defend themselves and were eligible
for full remission. The fact that the Hong Kong Government
had arranged for the release of two more prisoners on the
grounds of illhealth was another serious and positive step to
improve relations. We much hoped that the Chinese Government
would take some parallel action.
7. Mr. Ma said that the question of patriotic compatriots in
Hong Kong had been discussed many times.
They had been
subjected to political persecution and their arrest and
imprisonment wore totally unjustified.
Mr. Ma expressed the
hope that the British Government would take more active steps
and would immediately release all of the more than seventy
patriotic compatriots imprisoned in Hong Kong.
8. Sir Stanley said that he would take careful note of what
Mr. Ma had said, as he always did. Sir Stanley went on to say
that on the question of the rebuilding of the Chinese Office,
we should need to have more information before we could decide
how we could help. Far Eastern Department had already been
in touch with the Chinese Office asking for more details.
We
should like to help as much as possible.
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19.