PA.
DUR
CONFIDENTIAL
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
(The Secretary of State)
FROM HONG KONG (Sir D. Trench)
201 JUM
# 12
Cypher
D•
19 June, 1967.
R.
" 19
$1 0930Z
CONFIDENTIAL No. 864.
Addressed to Commonwealth Office. Repeated
"Lisbon No. M. 412. (S. of S.
please pass).
1967
80
(79)
Your telegrams Nos. 1192 and 1208. REF
Macao.
LAST
292
8
The new arrangements for the issue or permi ʊS Immigration Department are working smoothly despite the refusal of newspapers in Macao to advertise them and despite the continued inability of the Portuguese authorities to transfer the Permit Office records to Hong Kong. They have frequently expressed the firm hope that the Communists will allow them to do so, but nothing has happened. They are obviously unable to act without the authorisation of the Left Wing which is unlikely to be forthcoming for the foreseeable future.
2. In view of this and of continuing anti-British activities (e.g. demonstrations, posting of posters and attempts at boycotts) in Macao we have regretfully decided not to attempt for the moment to get out the personsonal effects of Ions, Kemble or Pollard. Any member of the Diplomatic Service or Hong Kong Government who went from here to Macao even to look at the premises would be a target for "instant" demonstrations (which experience shows the Communists are quite capable of mounting). McCoy the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Macao has promised to do what he can to get out one or two personal items which he knows are valued, but we must leave it to him to judge the timing.
30 The determining factor in the Macao situation is how things develop in Hong Kong. We see little prospect of events here returning completely to normal for at least two months or SO. There would appear to be no advantage in reopening either the Consulate or the Permit Office. The functions of the Consulate can fairly easily be performed in Hong Kong by the British Trade Commission and Immigration Department, and, as experience has shown, the Permit Office can be run perfectly well here. (There are a number of advantages in having it under closer control in its parent department.)
4. Closure of the Consulate (coupled with the appointment as Consul of a resident in Hong Kong) therefore seems the right policy in principle. Since the locally engaged staff no
RECEonger have any functions, there is a case for paying them off
ARCHIVES No. 63
2C JUNIS?
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