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Mr Youge
PS MR
CONFIDENTIAL
258
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FUGITIVE OFFENDERS ACT: HONG KONG
1. The Governor has rejected (Hong Kong telegram No 1187)
the formula suggested by us (FCO telegram No 1032) for his
speech on 17 October. But he has agreed to soften the line
which he originally proposed. The relevant extract from his
speech will now read:
"The Godber affair has highlighted the case for
amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Act, as recommended
by Sir Alastair Blair-Kerr. The requirement of double
criminality is hard to understand in the case of a
dependent territory, such as Hong Kong, where HMG has
a power of veto on all laws passed, and the Secretary
of State is obliged to answer for the laws of Hong Kong
in the House of Commons. We feel sure it was not the
intention of the Fugitive Offenders Act to frustrate
the intention of the laws approved by HMG in Hong Kong.
I have represented to the Secretary of State the
strong feelings on this subject here. This, of course,
is not the only way to bring back Godber for trial. It
remains only for one man to come forward and give
conclusive evidence of a corrupt transaction."
2. I think this is all right in the sense that, unlike the
original version, it does not commit the Governor personally
to a change in a way that would be embarrassing for him if we
/rejected
CONFIDENTIAL