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CONFIDENTIAL
Eile Nor
Page
SEE FURTHER (48
Note on conversation with Mr. HO Yin
Mr. Paul Tsui telephoned at about noon on 2nd July to ask me to join him for lunch with Mr. HO Yin at the residence of Mr. HO Tim at Estoril Court. The conversation lasted for 12 hours, from 1.30 to 3 p.m.; the only other person present was Mr. Q.W. Lee.
2.
After the usual exchange of greetings, we started with a brief discussion on the suspension of the Macao ferries services by four operators. The conversation then moved to communist activities gener- ally; my recollection and interpretation of the conversation are summa rized in the following paragraphs.
3. Mr. HO expressed the view that the December 1966 events in Macao and the 1967 disturbances in Hong Kong were the direct result of the cultural revolution in that the communists in Hong Kong and Macao wanted
I to demonstrate their solidarity by "struggling" against the capitalists. asked whether or not this meant that the disturbances had no direct backing from Peking and was told that this was an incorrect assumption, although it did not follow that all the tactics adopted by the local communists were approved by the hierarchy in Peking, and, indeed, the bomb-planting tactics and the murder of the late Mr. LAM Bun (popular radio personality) did not have the consent of Peking. Mr. Ho went on to say that Peking policy was not to criticise the actions of the people but rather to summon' some of the 1leaders back for briefing.
4. Mr. Ho said that there was no intention of a military invasion. Firstly, Peking did not wish to disturb the Chinese community here: secondly, such an action, which could be taken at any time according to Ho, would convey a poor image to the world; he used the phrase "an adult beating up a child",
5.
In reply to a question by Mr. Tsui, Mr. Ho said that the communist world continue to create incidents, and would take advantage of every
He suggested that if the Hong Kong Government opportunity in doing so. wished her people to live in peace and prosperity, a settlement with the unions should be reached. He cited the example of Macao and alleged that the city was now free of major crimes and "greater" prosperity was in sight. These achievements were possible because of the co-operation between the Administration on the one hand, and the Chamber of Commerce and the Motor Workers Union on the other, but without any intervention by Taiwan agents.
He referred to the recent Cheung shawan trouble indicating that it was partly the work of Taiwan agents. He also quoted two or three incidents which could have sparked off further incidents in Macao last year but the matters were settled amicably with the assistance of the Chamber and the Union. We drew attention to the fact that the Macao situation was entirely different from ours. Here, 99% of the population came out in support of the Government and it would be impossible for the Government
CONFIDENTIAL
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