CONFIDENTIAL
the Secretary of State had found it necessary to
recommend a reprieve for Tsoi. If the Secretary
of State had done otherwise, the Opposition would
have introduced a vote of censure. Because
capital punishment was a free-vote issue, a three
line whip could not have been applied. It was
his assessment and that of the Whips that the
Conservatives would have lost a censure motion, in
which case the Secretary of State would have had
to resign. Moreover, if Tsoi had been hanged,
there would have been a row, in effect between
Hong Kong and Parliament, which could have had
serious repercussions on Hong Kong's interests in
other fields. Mr Royle then said that, whilst
he would not like his remarks to be quoted to the
press, there was no reason why Cheong-Leen should
Lin comfirences
not pass them on to his colleagues.
4.
As regards the future, as reported in our
telegram No , Cheong-Leen said that, provided
capital punishment was not removed from the law
of Hong Kong and the anti-crime campaign continued,
it should still be possible to cut down the crime
rate without actually hanging anyone. It would in
his view be much better to retain the death penalty
without actually using it than for it to be abolished
by legislation in this country. Mr Royle remarked
that stronger sentencing was also a useful
weapon. Cheong-Leen agreed.
5. Cheong-Leen then asked the Minister about
Chinese representation in Hong Kong. The Hong
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