CONFIDENT IAL
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(Secretary of State for the Colonies)
FROM HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
JAN
12 1
Cypher
R.
D. 4th January, 1967.
4th
11
#1
#f
03.30 hrs.
IMMEDIATE
95/
CONFIDENTIAL No. 12.
Addressed to Commonwealth Office (S. of S. for the
Repeated
#1
11
Colonies)
"Washington No. 3. (Please pass IMMEDIATE). "Peking No. 4.
"POLAD Singapore No. 2.
Foreign Office telegram No. 18 to Washington.
U.S. Naval Visits.
In the event U.S. authorities themselves cancelled visit of O'BRIEN and it was not necessary to ask them to postpone it.
2. We understand that FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT has been at Subic Bay since Christmas. Plans for other two ships mentioned in my telegram No. 1 are not yet known to U.S. authorities here, but we have no reason to think that they will not go to Subic Bay or Japan, as is usual, before coming here. In practice, however, these visits to Subic or other ports only serve to ensure that battle-scarred ships do not come here direct; even if they stay at Subic or elsewhere a fortnight (which is about the maximum) this does little to obscure the fact that they have very recently been operating off Vietnam.
In any
3. Since the Chinese (we hope) know nothing as yet of the plans for these visits, there seems little reason why non- arrival of e.g. U.S.S. F.D. ROOSEVELT or LONG BEACH should encourage them to think that we are bowing to pressure. case, the schedules are continually changing. A lull of a few weeks now in visits by controversial U.S. ships would not be unusual; and it would tend to take the heat out of the situation and increase the possibility of later bringing in the larger ships again without undue controversy.
4. On the whole I would have preferred to avoid visit of a major ship until the end of this month, and even then would prefer F.D. ROOSEVELT to LONG BEACH, but this may not be operationally practicable.
(Passed to D.S.A.0. for repetition to Washington)
Copies sent to:-
Foreign Office(F.E. Dept.)
Mr. J.B. Denson
Ministry of Defence (D.S.5.) Mr. B. Fitzgerald
61001
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CONFIDENT IAL
RECEIVED IN ARTHUIS No. 62 - A JAN 267
HUB2/1
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