SECRET
HONG KONG TELEGRAM NO. 640 TO COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
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REPORTS CONTINUE TO BE RECEIVED OF MINOR OUTBREAKS OF NATIONAL
FIGHTING THERE DOES NOT, SO FAR, APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN ANY SUDDEN
UPSURGE OF INCIDENTS IN KWANGTUNG. P.L.A. ACTION IS SAID BY TRAVELLERS
TO HAVE INCLUDED THE EXECUTION OF 6 CRIMINALS AND FACTION LEADERS.
(L) 36 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED DURING THE WEEK. THE TOTAL FOR
THE MONTH SO FAR IS 57 AS COMPARED WITH 52 FOR THE SAME PERIOD IN
APRIL 1968.
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2. THE PROPOSED EXPANSION BY COMMUNIST SCHOOLS INTO THE NEW
INDUSTRIAL SUBURBS GIVES CAUSE FOR CONCERN. AT PRESENT FEW SECOND-
ARY SCHOOLS EXIST IN THESE AREAS AND IT IS PROBABLE THAT THE
COMMUNISTS WILL BE ABLE TO ENROL STUDENTS WITHOUT DIFFICULTY AS
CONSIDERABLE NUMBERS OF MEMBERS OF COMMUNIST UNIONS LIVE IN THE
DISTRICTS CONCERNED. THIS COULD RESULT. IN UP TO 2,000 ADDITIONAL
PLACES FOR STUDENTS IN CONMUNIST CONTOLLED SCHOOLS, A RISE OF SOME
10% IN THE CURRENT FIGURES.
3. THE SUPPORT THAT THE MEETING OF DUAL PURPOSE VAN DRIVERS
OBTAINED INDICATES THE STRENGTH OF THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT ALLEGED
POLICE PERSECUTION. WHILE SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTION WERE
PROBABLY NO MORE THAN 'HOT AIR' .THEY DO SHOW HOW INFLAMMABLE
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THIS MATTER COULD BE. THE FACT THAT THEY WERE REJECTED BY THOSE
CONVENING THE MEETING SUGGESTS THAT THE COMMUNISTS DO NOT, AT THIS
STAGE, WISH TO UTILISE THE DRIVERS FOR MORE THAN PROPAGANDA PURPOSES
BUT, AS ALWAYS, THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT MILITANTS IN THIS
GROUP, WHICH IS NOT PREDOMINANTLY COMMUNIST AND NOT, THEREFORE, SO
AMEN ABLE TO CONTROL, MAY DECIDE TO INITIATE INCIDENTS THEMSELVES.
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