TNAG-0039-FCO40-75-Border-incidents-with-China-1967 — Page 156

Cypher/Cat.A

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HONG KONG

ΤΟ

COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (D.T.D.)

Telno. 1617

2 November 1967

SECRET

143

1

Addressed Commonwealth Office telegram No. 1617 of

2 November.

Repeated for information to POLAD Singapore, Peking and Washington.

For Galsworthy.

141

Your telegram No. 2231:

Hong Kong Border.

Local NCNA contact has been informed as follows:-

"We are not ready to meet your representatives again today as we are still considering the implications of their refusal to meet on alternate sides of the border. It would help us if they would give us a sensible explanation for their refusal of our perfectly reasonable request. If they can do so, we would hope to have an answer for you by 9.30 a.m. tomorrow".

This is the best formula we have notice which will leave the door open. NCNA some answer on further meetings by

2.

been able to devise at short

We had undertaken to give 9.30 a.m. this morning.

While I agree on importance of reciprocity in this matter, there is the point that meetings on our side raise complications: over Press interest and interference and so on. It was also the strong impression of our team that alternate meetings would never be accepted; though this is not to say that we should not tease the Chinese a little about this point.

3* Your point about demand in paragraph 3(d) had not escaped us, but our negotiations went some way towards saying it would be considered as a gesture of goodwill. I still think it might be useful as such: but I would now make consideration conditional upon an acknowledgment that Knight was illegally abducted. This will probably be refused, and we could then withdraw our undertaking to consider compensation.

Foreign Office pass Priority to Peking 603 and Washington 351.

Sir D. Trench

[Repeated as requested]

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J.I.P.G.D.

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- 2 NOV 1967

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