SECRET
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(The Secretary of State)
FROM HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
15th January, 1967.
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Cypher
Do
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15th
FLASH
SECRET
No. 59.
05.40 hrs.
Addressed to Commonwealth office.
Repeated
" Lisbon No. M.35.
tt
" Peking No. 26. "Washington No. 15.
(S. of S. please pass IMMEDIATE to all).
Your telegram No. 94.
Macao.
Portuguese Consul-General went to Macao yesterday. We shall ask him about points in paragraph 4 of your telegram under reference as soon as we can contact him again.
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Following are answers to points in your paragraph 5:-
(a) Yes: there might be a considerable number.
(b)
C
It is not quite clear what you envisage purpose of screening would be. We should like the Portuguese to provide us with lists of the evacuees which we could check briefly at the point of disembarkation to ensure that we admitted no one not sponsored by them or whom we knew to be undesirable. Any more detailed enquiries that we (word omitted ?felt) necessary could be undertaken subsequently at the reception centres. A further essential from our point of view would be an assurance from the Portuguese that anyone travelling under their auspices to Hong Kong would be guaranteed passages elsewhere. We would not of course exclude
the possibility of granting permanent residence in Hong Kong to individuals e.g. those who had close relations here but this must remain a matter for decision by us, not Portuguese.
(c) No.
3.
On other points raised by Ambassador:-
(a)
Implication of "maintenance" in last paragraph of aide- memoire (your telegram No. 95) is not clear. Portuguese should be asked to undertake to accept financial responsibility for maintaining evacuees here.
(b) Admission of non-Portuguese (paragraph 2 of your telegram
under reference) not "persona grata" to CPG (e.g.
TENTO IN EMT agenta) would face us with serious political problems.
It seems essential to make it clear now to Portuguese that we could not accept such people unless they were only of minor political significance and had a guarantee of onward movement to Taiwan.
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SECRET
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