TNAG-0305-FCO40-341-Use-of-Chinese-as-official-language-in-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 111

RESTRICTED

LAST

REF.

MCKI

521

59

Dean Michael

COLONIAL SECRETARIAT,

HONG KONG.

23 August 1971

Many thanks for your letter HKK 8/3 of the 30th July. I do not think that any real harm has come from the direct reply from the Private Office to the Chinese Action Committee of the Federation of Hong Kong Students. Had we had an opportunity to advise I think we would have suggested that the reply should be sent to the student body itself, rather than to what is little more than a sub-committee, and also that the reply might have deprecated the Sub-Committee's allegations that the Police mishandled the demonstration on the 7th July. The Federation itself has so far cooperated with the Government in avoiding trouble both on the language and on other issues, and we would like to keep it that way.

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51 -3 SEP 1971

HKK 8/3

E.O. Laird, Esq., CMG, MBE, Hong Kong Department,

Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London S.W.1.

Yous

Низа

Sue

berman-brake

RESTRICTED

551