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4. Our understanding of the intentions of the Chinese is not helped by the comments in paragraphs 5 to 7 of HK telno 4105, in which subversion and "foreign political organizations" are mixed up. It may well be the case that a society or association may be or enter into a seditious conspiracy and properly be proceeded against for sedition, but that is not necessaraily the same as being inegible for registration under the Societies Ordinance even on the grounds that it is a branch of or affiliated to or is connected with an organization or group of a political nature established outside HK or that it is likely to be used for any purpose prejudicial to or incompatible with peace, welfare or good order in HK as provided in section 6 of that Ordinance. It is desirable to keep the two ideas separate. Although there may be substance in Li Hou's comments reported in telno 4105, we will have to wait for a further debriefing, as promised by that telegramme. IF there is a Legal Experts meeting subversion and foreign political organizations are obviously issues to be explored
there.
Paul Fifoot
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