TNAG-0367-FCO40-413-Visits-of-UK-Members-of-Parliament-to-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 38

22 NOV 1975 !

Walter Clegg, M.P.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

LONDON SWIA OAA

•HKK3/548/2 Tague for sug. peso.

Dear Alec,

2nd October, 1973

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I have just returned fáøm an official visit to Hong Kong, as the guest of the Hong Kong Government, along with Bill Elliott. Thanks to Tony Royle I was able to see our Ambassador in Bangkok on the way to Hong Kong and thought you might be interested in some of the impressions I have obtained from the two visits and, in particular, some problems which could have

I anticipate may well be raised in Parliament as a result of the situation in Hong Kong. For the sake of clarity I have set out my impressions in numbered paragraphs.

9/0 Para!. 1.

•Sent to SE. AD.

22

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02

I did have the chance of a short talk with the Ambassador prior to his departure for the S.E.A.T.O. meeting and also had some discussions with the Counsellor, Barry Smallman, whom I must say impressed me, especially on the commercial side. He seemed both lively and vigorous.

I did have the opportunity

all there malters.

of meeting some Thai dignitaries at a dinner given by Smallman. I was particularly interested to meet the head of the Counter Communist Organisation. They seemed to be reasonably optimistic about the situation in Cambodia and perhaps rather pleasantly surprised at the resistance being put up by the present Cambodian Government. What obviously does worry them is the road being constructed by the Chinese towards their frontier, defended by Chinese anti-aircraft guns, but the immediate pressure seemed to be rather less and they were just beginning to feel that this road was not necessarily directed at their own country. One minor hiccough was that a leak in Hong Kong had led to an announcement in the press that a Hong Kong police officer was being attached to the Embassy to help in the drive against narcotics. This had obviously embarrassed the Thais and, in one of the local papers that I read, there was criticism of interference but this seemed to be directed more against the Americans and, in particular, Congressman Wolf, rather than against the British. Later in Hong Kong I saw the

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PA

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