*
the Godber Case it was of course deplorable from the Hong Kong
view point, but all legal and political advice in this country
was that it was most undesirable to legislate retrospectively for
one man. We were, however, still examining the possibility of a
non-retrospective change in the Fugitive Offenders Act. Nr pearing
said that he accepted this, but the Godber case compounded the
groundswell of dissatisfaction in Hong Kong. The younger half of
the population had to reckon on spending much of their working life
in Hong Kong after the expiry of the lease; they were likely to be
rather volatile in their reactions to many issues.
4.
Lord Kennet said that he ought to add that he had raised the
matter on a personal basis with the Institute of Foreign Affairs
in Feking. He told them that he had seen the Walled City, gave
them some of its history, and said that once someone had seen it
was impossible not to wish to do something about it. We also
told them that he was speaking personally and not with the approve
of HMG or the Hong Kong Government. He asked his interlocutor
three days' later what action had been taken and was told that fir
remarks had been recorded in a written note. Lord Kennet had
taken the line that here was a case where two Governments were
refusing to speak to each other on a matter affecting the lives of
40 thousand people. He said he had informed our Embassy in Pekinr
about this.
There
11
5. Mr Spearing said that the first step might be to reach an
agreement on public health and fire risks in the Walled City.
were 534 dwellings each about 9 storeys high. There were rats.
Disease and fire could spread rapidly. Mr koyle thanked the two M's
for calling. He reiterated that the problem was one which we did not
wish to tackle at this moment. He was, however, most grateful for
their interest and he would consider carefully what they had said
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