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CONFIDENTIAL
Secretary of State
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Pmalé Secuvay
DEATH SENTENCE TSOI KWOK-CHEONG
1. The Secretary of State in his telegram No 447 to the
Governor of Hong Kong asked for Tsoi to be psychiatrically
examined. This has been done. The Governor's report
says that a panel of psychiatrists regard Tsoi as showing
no signs of mental abnormality.
2. At a meeting on 10 May Mr Royle informed officials that
the Secretary of State had decided that Tsoi should be
reprieved and asked that this submission with the necessary
documentation for transmission to The Queen be prepared.
It was the intention to which Sir M MacLehose assented, that
the announcement of the reprieve would follow very closely
the decision of Parliament on death sentences in Northern
Ireland which would be announced on 14 May. No reason for
the reprieve would be given, but it was inevitable that there
would be a connexion in the public mind between the two events.
3. Officials considered that the consequence of this linking
of the two events would be that
(a) since the decision would be seen to be related to the
political situation in the United Kingdom the position
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