TNAG-0292-FCO40-328-Disturbances-in-Hong-Kong-bomb-attacks-and-threats-1971 — Page 31

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Sir S Tomlinson

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LETTER FROM DAME JOAN VICKERS : TIAOYUTAI (SENKAKU) ISLANDS

1. I attach a draft reply to Dame Joan Vickers' letter of 19 July.

The

2. The problem of the Tiaoyutai Islands is complex. Islands, which are more commonly known by their Japanese

name as the Senkaku Islands, are the subject of an inter-

national dispute over sovereignty involving the Japanese Government, the Chinese Government and the Nationalist

authorities in Taiwan. The dispute has aroused strong

feelings among Chinese student communities; a demonstration

in Hong Kong on 7 July led to a clash with the police. HMG has not taken a public position on the rights and

wrongs of the respective claims and almost anything we can

say on the subject would offend one or other of the parties.

The proposed reply has therefore been drafted to involve

us to the least possible extent; it takes account of

Mr Royle's reply to Mr Biggs-Davison's Parliamentary Question

on 12 July.

3. Hong Kong Department and the Department's Legal Adviser

concur.

30 July 1971

Copy to:

Mr Logan

Mr Laird

Hong Kong Department

Legal Advisers

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R B Crowson

Far Eastern Department