CONFIDENTIAL
A
B
Background
3. The background to this proposal is set out in Hong Kong
telno 2462. Briefly, criminal gangs are importing illegal immigrants from China to commit armed robberies and other
crimes of violence and then returning them to China before they can be apprehended. The Chinese have been cooperative in trying to stop this, and other cross-border crime. They recently arrested two PRC citizens thought to be involved in one robbery. In this and in a number of other recent cases,
the Chinese authorities have sought Hong Kong's assistance
in providing information and evidence which would enable
them to bring the accused to trial. However persons
convicted of such crimes could be sentenced to death.
Hong Kong has asked for an assurance that the death penalty
would not be carried out if Hong Kong supplied the
information, the Chinese authorities have declined to give it, saying the courts would decide. Neither Hong Kong nor Peking see any prospect of the Chinese changing their
approach.
4.
When
Hong Kong have therefore concluded that they should
provide certain types of assistance in cases where PRC
citizens, who are not Hong Kong residents, have been
arrested in China on suspicion of having commited serious
offences in Hong Kong: murder, armed robbery,
drug-trafficking and illegal importation of firearms. The
types of assistance provided would include written
statements, interviews of consenting witnesses in Hong Kong
by Chinese officials, physical evidence and documentary
evidence. Hong Kong have also set out the procedures and
safeguards that they would deploy in considering each and
every case in paragraphs 9 to 12 of their telegram. After checking that the request falls within the guidelines and that the Hong Kong Government are able to meet it, the
Political Adviser and the Secretary for Security would both
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CONFIDENTIAL