2600027 C.S. 20 A
From the Governor, Hong Kong
SECRET
SAVINGXIX DESPATCH
To the Secretary of State for xatxex Foreign &
Commonwealth Affairs
79
No:
1671..
RECEIVED N ARCHIVES No.31.
No.
10 Dec 1968
Repeated to:-
Repeated to:-
H.M. Charge d'Affaires, Peking
Date............. 5th December, 1968.
My Reference. S.L/M 60/68
нка
Your Reference.
(655 HWB9/2
PJ. F.
떡,
CE
Detainees and Prisoners
Your telegram No. 1609.
The 29 detainees mentioned in paragraph 1(1) of your telegram have been reduced to 23 because of the six releases on 3rd December, and will be reduced to 22 by the release of No.10 on some date before 11th December when his detention order expires.
2.
From 11th December the 22 remaining detainees are those numbered 3, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 45, 46, 48 and 51, in the list at Annexure 'A' to GEN/14/368/133 of 20th June, 1968, a copy of which was sent to you.
3.
Those remaining in detention are all dedicated militant communists, none of whom can in practice be considered less dangerous than any other, although, of course, they are of varying importance in their own organisations. They range from Vice-Chairman of the All Circles Anti-Persecution Struggle Committee, through office bearers of trade unions and senior communist education officials who incited violence, to individual members of fighting groups who were actively involved in organising acts of murder and other forms of violence. With the exception, perhaps, of the individual members of fighting groups all those in detention wield considerable influence in their respective spheres of communist activity.
4.
The case of each individual detainee is carefully reviewed weekly. The yardstick, in terms of threat to security posed by the individual release of those listed in paragraph 2, needs to be measured in terms of the current activity of the relevant parent organisation, the particular role of the individual and the likeli- hood of his attempting to resuscitate open violence. Regard has to be paid to the possible degree to which those concerned will comply with the communist policy of at present conducting a "political struggle" as opposed to a violent one. These factors vary in respect not only of the detainee himself but also of his organisation and the situation at any given time. While, therefore, it would be possible to give a list of priorities as of today in terms of approximate order of release, it would not necessarily remain valid on an indefinite basis.
5.
In reply to paragraph 1(2) of the telegram under reference I enclose a list of the 13 "news workers" with the details requested.
6.
I regret that it will take a little longer to reply to your third question because of the difficulty of defining "confrontation prisoners". We shall send the information by telegram as soon as possible. In the meantime you should be aware that the figures you quote are not-new regarded as accurate.
55
SECRET
Amm
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