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B
40 At that time 1832 were imprisoned.
Those that have
been released have, to the best of our knowledge, behaved
well and are obeying Peking's instructions to avoid trouble.
Hong Kong telegram no. 183 of 21 March set out the categories
of principal offences at that time, when there were 115 still
They were:-
detained.
(a) Crimes of violence 5.
(b) Possession of offensive weapons (either
personal possession or being on premises
where such weapons were found)
G
87.
(c) Possession or use of explosives 23.
The proportion is now presumably much the same. Some of the
crimes were of a particularly reprehensible nature resulting
for example in the death of children by bombs. All but 7
would be released in the normal course of events by 1974.
5. The attitude of the Governor (who has statutory powers
under his Letters Patent to grant full remission) has
consistently been that releasing these prisoners could lead
to a reduction in confidence in the firmness of the Government
of Hong Kong and be a sign of submitting to Chinese pressure.
Moreover, in his view, it would be opposed by official members
of his Executive Council whom he would probably feel bound to
consult. As seen from London, however, the situation is now
calm, three years have passed, and pressures are muted.
Having played their best remaining bargaining card in releasing Mr. Johnston the Chinese may feel the need to resort
to other methods of securing their release. They have
recently linked confrontation prisoners with the future of
branches of British banks in Shanghai. They could
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/conceivably
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