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:
thesis that they wished to play things quietly. It may be
that they had already decided in principle to hang on to
Mr. Grey as a bargaining counter, but with Hsueh F'ing's release
in the offing thought that they should make some minimal gesture
on their side. On the other hand it is significant that the
New China News Agency application to visit the communist news
workers was made on 1 November, two days after Mr. Cradock's
press conference in Hong Kong about British subjects in China.
It may be that the Chinese, stung by Mr. Cradock's criticisms,
thought it desirable to counter charges of barbarism by showing
him to us in what they may regard as reasonable health and
"lenient" conditions of detention. They may have assessed,
too, that increased publicity both about Mr. Grey and
communist prisoners in Hong Kong would bring us under pressure
to make concessions.
辜
5. The communist press in Hong Kong ever since Mr. Cradock's
press conference have linked Mr. Grey with the 13 communist news
workers detained in Hong Kong and other convicted prisoners
there.
early in
November senior N.C.N.A. officials were briefing overseas
employees along the lines that Mr. Grey would be released only
after the release of all the remaining news workers.
(It seems
unlikely that they would have been doing this in deliberate
contravention of what they knew to be Peking's wishes.
Chinese Mission in London asked a delegation of British
journalists who called on 4 December how we could expect the
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