Mr Stewart
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VISIT TO HONG KONG
1.
Mr Thompson
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नायक
I had two intensive days of talks in Hong Kong on 25 and 26 April. I have asked Dr Wilson, the Political Adviser, if he could produce for the Governor and for me a note on the meeting which I had with some 20 members of UMELCO. I am not recording the other conversations in detail but the following is a summary
of some impressions.
THE POLICE
2. The basic problem is one of leadership and man-management. Mr Slevin, the Commissioner, and his senior officers, appear to have been almost totally out of touch with the rank and file. While I understand why the Governor decided to keep Mr Slevin on for the time being, I now think that the sooner Mr Slevin goes the better. But there is no obvious successor. The only possible candidate from within the Police Force is Mr Henry, but he did not
Mr Crane come out of the November affair at all well. Moreover, from the Inspectorate of Constabulary and others with whom I spoke in Hong Kong, had doubts about his suitability. I should add that there seemed to be general confidence in the ability of the Force to fight crime and some hope that the worst forms of syndicated corruption had been suppressed if not eradicated.
THE SPECIAL BRANCH
3. The Special Branch under Mr Richardson appears to have done a good job. The difficulty was that they were not targetted to look at the Police. Indeed, senior police officers, including Mr Slevin and Mr Henry, had warned them off. When the Special Branch were told to watch the police they had responded both quickly and effectively. This apart I was not entirely convinced that their overall targetting is right for the sort of threats to
The problems stability which may occur in the future in Hong Kong.
are changing. The main targets are no longer the CCP and the KMT. There may be other extremist organisations or focuses of discontent which may present greater dangers. Flexibiity and imagination will
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