RESTRICTED
R&R.
r
RESTRICTED
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1133
OF 13113OZ JULY 93
مل
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
23
053606
MDHIAN 8644
13/7.
TOP COPY Q DIST?
OUR TELNO 31 TO PEKING (NOT TO FCO). CHONG KWEE SUNG.
SUMMARY.
1. WE RAISE THIS CASE AGAIN WITH NCNA, WHO STILL HAVE NO
INFORMATION ON CHONG'S CIRCUMSTANCES. WORTH KEEPING UP THE PRESSURE IN PEKING TOO. BUT WE MAY NEED TO RAISE THIS DISTURBING CASE AT A HIGHER LEVEL TO SAND ANY CHANCE OF BREAKING DOWN THE WALL
OF SILENCE.
DETAIL.
2.
ON
DEPUTY POLITICAL ADVISER ASKED DEPUTY HEAD OF NCNA FOREIGN
AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT ON 9 JULY WHETHER HE YET HAD ANY INFORMATION CHONG, IN RESPONSE TO OUR EARLIER APPROACHES BOTH TO NCNA (ASHTON'S MINUTE OF 25 JUNE) AND TO THE HKMAO (PEKING TELNO 763). HANDING OVER A SPEAKING NOTE (COPY FOLLOWS BY FAX TO FCO AND PEKING) ASHTON SAID THAT CHONG'S DAUGHTERS HAD CALLED ON HIM ON 5 JULY, ON THEIR RETURN FROM THEIR LATEST VISIT TO PEKING AND ZHENGZHOU. THEY WERE CLEARLY, AND UNDERSTANDABLY, VERY DISTRESSED: THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR FATHER'S DETENTION WAS NOW APPROACHING. HE HAD BEEN ALLOWED NO FAMILY VISITS, AND NO INFORMATION HAD BEEN RELEASED, DESPITE REPEATED REQUESTS BOTH ON OFFICIAL CHANNELS AND FROM HIS FAMILY, ABOUT HIS JUDICIAL STATUS. WE DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHETHER HE HAD BEEN CHARGED OR WHETHER HIS PROLONGED DETENTION HAD BEEN APPROVED BY THE NPC (AS WE UNDERSTOOD WAS REQUIRED BY LAW). IN PEKING, THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY HAD TOLD CHONG'S DAUGHTERS THAT THEIR FATHER'S CASE WAS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.
3. YANG WAS VISIBLY EMBARRASSED. HE SAID HE HAD REPORTED ALL OUR
APPROACHES BUT HAD NO NEW INFORMATION TO OFFER. BUT CHONG WAS, HE UNDERSTOOD, SUSPECTED OF DEFRAUDING A CHINESE COMPANY. WE SHOULD REALISE THAT ECONOMIC CRIMES WERE OFTEN 'COMPLICATED'. ASHTON SAID THAT THE QUESTIONS WE HAD BEEN ASKING WERE, ON THE CONTRARY, EXTREMELY SIMPLE. LOOKING BACK OVER THE HISTORY OF THE CASE, IT WOULD BE HARD FOR AN OBSERVER TO RESIST THE CONCLUSION THAT THIS WAS A
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RESTRICTED
HKD OS/1
RE
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1 4 JUL 1993