TNAG-0038-FCO40-74-Border-incidents-with-China-1967 — Page 83

Cypher

IMMEDIATE SECRET

No. 1221

SECRET

INWARD TELEGRAM

TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

(The Secretary of State)

FROM HONG KONG (0.A.G.

}.)

D. 12th August, 1967 R. 12th

#1

COP

62

W FOR REGISTRATION

WHITE

0635Z

Addressed Commonwealth Office (D.T.D.). Repeated Peking No. 515.

P.A. Singapore No. 303.

11

Washington No. 258.

RECEIVED IN ARCHIVE~N~. 63 114 AUG:70/

HWA 4/1

(*)

(Secretary of State please pass to all).

My telegram No. 1217.

Man Kam To.

There is much to regret in the two incidents on

5th and 10th August at Man Kam To. They must have been extremely galling to both police and military and to the District Officer and there is no doubt that the latter and the battalion C.0. were put to great strain and might easily have been murdered on the night of 10th August.

20

It is still not clear how the post was surprised and disarmed so quickly, especially on the second occasion, but once this had occurred the signing of the documents became virtually inevitable. The first document was basically innocuous but, proved to be the case, open to deliberate misinterpretation; second document, signed under severe duress, has naturally been repudiated.

3.

The situation on the border is complicated

as the

(A) by the fact that since the Sha Tau Kok affair on 8th July there has been no alternative to putting the military on the border itself in immediate confrontation with the P.L.A. on the other side;

(B) by the directive to the military to use the utmost restraint and minimum force, particularly against civilians;

(c) by the fact that Chinese from across the border have long been allowed freedom to cross into British territory to cultivate rented farmland or handle the movement of livestock and foodstuffs across for transportation to Hong Kong;

(D) by the reluctance of the P.L.A. to restrain their demonstrators until the situation threatens to get out of hand (and its inability to do so once the demonstrators have actually crossed into British territory);

SECRET LAST

6/

/(E)