CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Peter K Y Tsao
Secretary for Administrative Services
and Information
Government Secretariat
HONG KONG
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
4 July 1988
HKD 243/8
ISTRY
- 5 JUL 1988
Dan Pater
ران:
PRESS LEAKS ON THE CHANGE OF POLICY ON VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
1.
438
Thank you for your letter of 21 June. We too were concerned about leaks in the press and media prior to implementation of the new policy.
This was to some extent inevitable as the pressures for change grew in Hong Kong, and as speculation increased following the Secretary of State's visit at the end of May.
2. The BBC was however a special case. As you probably know, it was at the specific suggestion of the Hong Kong Government that we took the BBC External Service into our confidence about the new policy (your telno 2238). We briefed them fully on the background to the change in policy and the timing of the change on the morning of 14 June. The aim was to ensure that the BBC would respond promptly and on an informed basis to the announcement of the new policy on 15 June, in order to maximise the deterrent effect in Vietnam.
263
3. On the afternoon of 14 June, the BBC telephoned to say that most of what we had said in the briefing was covered in a Reuters report of that day (which appears to have been based on information obtained in Hong Kong). In the circumstances we could not ask the BBC to withhold the story, but we did ask them to confine their report to what had already been reported and not to confirm that the change in policy had been agreed. Unfortunately, as you point out, they made reference to 16 June as the implementation date of the new policy. On the positive side they gave good coverage to the story in advance and at the time of the change of policy and the overall message was well in line with what we would have wished. Indeed, as the BBC subsequently pointed out to us, as a result of the leak the new policy was featured twice on their bulletin: once reporting the Reuters' story and again when the policy was formally announced: this double exposure can be seen as a bonus for us in terms of impact in Vietnam.
3.
There are always risks in briefing the media before the event. But I think that in this case little was lost as a result of the "leak" and our important objective of ensuring appropriate BBC coverage was secured.
と
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CO Hum
Hong Kong Department-
Good to see you in Hay kay Lark week!
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