NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
CONFIDENTIAL
time would have exposed us to severe criticism
possible
and a vote of censure. After seeking
clarification of some of the issues involved, from the Governor I therefore advised The
Queen to reprieve the Hong Kong murderer.
4. This creates a problem for the future. There is no doubt that Chinese opinion in Hong Kong is overwhelmingly in favour of the
death penalty. The number of those who support abolition is small. They are mainly expatriates but include the Bishops. The Unofficial
Members of Executive and Legislative Council,
although not elected, support the popular view. They would reject a bill to abolish the death
not sentence in Hong Kong.
Ner
r/could we expect
the Governor to force a bill through with the official majority and still to govern
effectively. Action therefore must rest with
us here. There are three possible courses: ef
getjem
a)
If we decide to leave the law of Hong Kong
if necessary as it is I could still advise The Queen to
grant a reprieve.
repeated
But departures from the long-
established rule that the Secretary of State would not advise Her Majesty to intervene unless there had been a manifest miscarriage of justice or new evidence, could only lead to recurrent
crises with Hong Kong, which would be very
damaging.
If, therefore, we do nothing I CONFIDENTIAL
/believe
Page 15Page 16