TNAG-0024-FCO40-60-Visits-by-nuclear-powered-ships-1968 — Page 112

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Dear Gammara,

CONFIDENTIAL

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N.V. SAVANNAH

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FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.

28 April 1967 RECEIVED IN

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HWB 2/2

Thank you for your letter HWB 2/2 of 20 April about the proposed visit to Hong Kong of the nuclear powered ship "Savannah". I will deal with various aspects of the visit separately.

Chinese Reaction

2.

Our doubts about the last proposed visit of the Savannah (Timm's letter of 9 March 1965) were more con- cerned with the problem of liability than the likely Chinese reaction to such a visit. Clearly we cannot leave Chinese reactions out of our considerations but I am not convinced that they are likely to be so adverse that we should refuse to allow the visit to take place. Chinese objections to visits by U.S. nuclear warships to Hong Kong have been more on the grounds that they are a particularly pernicious form of warship involved in operations against Vietnam than because of their means of propulsion. You will have seen from Peking telegram No. 495 of 21 April on another ject that the Chinese have recently made no differention between nuclear and conventially powered ships in the ir protests and propa- ganda. In these circumstances therefore I do not think that we should seek to prevent any visit to Hong Kong by nuclear powered merchant vessels, providing we make sure that there are adequate safeguards to health and property. My impression from Hong Kong telegrams about this and the previous visit of the Savannah is that the Government is also prepared to take the risk of adverse reaction by the Chinese.

3. Nor am I convinced, that we should insist that a visit should be postponed until the Autumn.

If we were prepared to allow a visit by the nuclear powered "Enterprise" last July during the South West Monsoon, it surely follows that we had already judged the direction

If, as

this file (para 2) of monsoon winds to be of little importance.

FEN/2747/40/28.

seems quite possible, we agree in the future to another visit by a U.S. nuclear powered ship in this season (and it does this time take place), our reasons for demanding a postponement of the visit by the Savannah would look very thin.

Publicity

4. I agree that we should make it a condition of the

/visit

LAST

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A. W. Gaminara Esq.,

Commonwealth Office.

CONFIDENTIAL

R.F.