CONFIDENTIAL
Cypher/Cat A
PRIORITY PEKING TO FOREIGN OFFICE
Telno 42
12 January 1968
252
LAST
REF.
ROXI
REF.
CONFIDENTIAL
Addressed to Foreign Office telegram No. 42 of 12 January
Repeated for information to Hong Kong.
Grey case raises, a number of issues on which I should welcome comments.
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(a) Prison Visits in Hong Kong and Consular Access. Having given our answer to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and to NCNA in Hong Kong on prison visits there is probably nothing more we can do for the moment, though we should take account of the likelihood that NCNA prisoners will refuse to request special visits and that as a result no progress over Grey will be made.
It
In theory it might be possible to arrange a special visit to NCNA prisoners without a preliminary request by them and see whether this would facilitate access to Grey. But I think objections are overriding. would mean going back on our recent stated official position; it would provide a dangerous precedent for visits to other prisoners in Hong Kong; and Chinese might still deny access to Grey until all their demands for prison visits in Hong Kong (not just to NCNA) were met.
(b) Publicity.
Is it now intended to follow article in Sunday
Times in any way? We must expect Parliamentary Questions when Parliament reassembles and some statement may then be necessary.
(c) NCNA in London.
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I
There may be Parliamentary and public pressure for
retaliatory action against NCNA in London. think any direct action of this kind e.g. restrictions on movements at this stage would be bound to provoke Chinese counter action against some at least of the members of my staff of British origin though we have no analogue of NCNA. A better course would be to
CONFIDENTIAL
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