TNAG-0282-FCO40-318-Extension-of-visas-of-foreign-residents-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 32

CONFIDENTIAL

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2 October, 1970

American Students in Hong Kong

Bill Brown, the Deputy Director of the Office of Asian Communist Affairs, which handles Hong Kong in the State Department, asked me today to discuss with him on an off the record basis the question of American students who have re- cently been making trouble in Hong Kong. Frank Bennett of the same office was also present. They showed me a cable from the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong concerning the cases of the four students (the American, Meisner, two Germans and one Swede) whose visas are not to be renewed. The cable also touched on the deportation of another American, Hoffmann, for drug offences. The cable made it clear that there has been some discussion of these cases between yourselves and the Consulate General and that more American students are likely to find visa renewals refused before long.

2. Hoffmann obviously presents no problem. As far as Meisner goes, Brown was concerned not so much regarding the refusal to renew his visa, which on the available evidence seems to be amply justified, if only on grounds of insanity, as with the likelihood of further similar refusals. Brown said he would like us to be aware that the Department were already under a measure of Congressional pressure. Both senators from Maryland, Mathias and Tydings (the latter is running for re-election and is therefore in a politically super-charged condition at the mo- ment), had shown an active interest in the case of Meisner. These approaches were not too hard to deal with, particularly since this case was demonstrably non-discriminatory; but the feeling might spread, if there were to be further refusals to renew visas, that the Department and more particularly the Consulate General were not standing up for Americans in Hong Kong. It was possible to envisage a situation in which the U.S. might be obliged either to lodge some kind of protest with us (this was Bennett's comment; Brown said he hoped very much that this could be avoided), or to release to the Senators concerned, in confidence, the true reasons for the action of the Hong Kong Government. Obviously what was told to Senators in confidence would very soon be on the front pages of the newspapers.

We all knew that the rules in Hong Kong had to be different from those elsewhere, but this was a point that was not readily taken

/by the....

C. J. Howells, Esq.,

HONG KONG.

CONFIDENTIAL