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CONFIDENTIAL
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FM
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FM FCO
Mr Sameters 26/2
TO
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TO DESKBY 26010OZ HONG KONG
TELNO
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Well done!
TELNO
OF
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OF 26.
Z FEBRUARY 1992
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AND TO
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INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
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YOUR TEL NO 507: ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
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1. Thank you for TUR and for the copy of the ExCo Memorandum.
We think the proposals in para 1 of TUR offer the most sensible
way forward. We would not be in favour of mandatory life
sentences for treason or for piracy (para 2 of TUR).
We agree
with you that in the circumstances of Hong Kong it would be
appropriate to draw a distinction between murder and other
crimes.
2. The notion of treason poses particular problems, given the
different ways we and the Chinese Look at it. Ideally we should
have liked to see treason removed from the Hong Kong statute
book altogether before 1997. But, as you point out in the Ex Co
Memorandum, the Chinese are likely to be unhappy about
abolishing capital punishment anyway, and would be particularly
exercised by any suggestion that the crime of treason should be
abolished. Since our prime interest is to see the death penalty abolished in Hong Kong, it would probably be best not to complicate things. In the past Chinese reaction to informal
mention of the capital punishment issue by UKREP JLG was
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