TNAG-0111-FCO40-147-Detainees-and-prisoners-following-19671968-disturbances-1969 — Page 148

Ed. (3746)

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

Registry No.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret.

Secret.

Confidential.

Restricted. Unclassified.

PRIVACY MARKING

In Confidence

BY BAG on Saturday, 4 January 1969.

DRAFT

letter

To:-

Type 1 +

From

Sir David Trench, G.C.M.G., M.C. Government House,

Hong Kong.

W. S. CARTER

Telephone No. & Ext.

Department

125

In telegram No. 1674 I indicated that I

would be reporting Lord Shepherd's views on

Anthony Royle's request to visit the detention

centre when he is in Hong Kong later this month.

In the Minister's view there may be, on

balance, some advantage in permitting one or two

M.P.s to visit the centre. They would see for

themselves the conditions of confinement and be

able to answer from first-hand knowledge the

doubts and queries of fellow Members. A case

for allowing special access by representative

M.P.s could rest, we feel, on the constitutional

argument that ultimate responsibility for the good

government of Hong Kong rests with Parliament and

that its Members have a special status. This

special status could be argued against any

attempt to cite such visits as precedents

supporting requests for visits from communist or

other organisations.

But clearly there should

be a limit to the number of M. Ps' visits; а

steady stream of visiting M.P.s might be exploited

for communist propaganda purposes and could well

have an unsettling effect on the detainees.

It might therefore be emphasised to Anthony

Royle, when conceding his request, that the visit

/is being