HWB.22/13
CONFIDENTIAL
COMMONWEALTH OFFICE,
DOWNING STREET, S.W.1.
26 April, 1967.
I am very sorry that there has been such a delay in
sending a reply to your letter of 6 September about the
possibility of a visit by the Queen to Hong Kong in 1968.
Galsworthy tells me that when he was with you at the end of
last year he had a word about it, and that he had to take a
very discouraging line. Thereafter, for some mysterious
reason, your letter was mislaid so that we had to ask you
for a further copy. Finally, for a number of reasons mainly
connected with the review of the Defence Review, we have still
not reached any firm decisions about whether the Queen should
undertake a visit to South East Asia in 1968.
Nevertheless I can now tell you that, even if the Queen
does visit South East Asia in 1968, we have come to the
conclusion that it would not be possible for her tour to
include Hong Kong. Though I appreciate the distinction which
you draw between a general visit and a visit for a specific
purpose, I am afraid that we cannot disregard the risk of the
Chinese treating any visit as a provocative display of
sovereignty which could lead to very damaging results.
There
LAST
REF.
His Excellency
Sir David Trench, K.C.M.G., M.C
REF.
Government House,
Victoria,
Hong Kong.
CONFIDENTIAL
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