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Sir S Tomlinson
Private Secretary
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LETTER FROM DAME JOAN VICKERS : TIAOYUTAI (SENKAKU) ISLANDS
1. I attach a draft reply to Dame Joan Vickers' letter of 19 July.
The
2. The problem of the Tiaoyutai Islands is complex. Islands, which are more commonly known by their Japanese
name as the Senkaku Islands, are the subject of an inter-
national dispute over sovereignty involving the Japanese Government, the Chinese Government and the Nationalist
authorities in Taiwan. The dispute has aroused strong
feelings among Chinese student communities; a demonstration
in Hong Kong on 7 July led to a clash with the police. HMG has not taken a public position on the rights and
wrongs of the respective claims and almost anything we can
say on the subject would offend one or other of the parties.
The proposed reply has therefore been drafted to involve
us to the least possible extent; it takes account of
Mr Royle's reply to Mr Biggs-Davison's Parliamentary Question
on 12 July.
3. Hong Kong Department and the Department's Legal Adviser
concur.
30 July 1971
Copy to:
Mr Logan
Mr Laird
Hong Kong Department
Legal Advisers
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R B Crowson
Far Eastern Department