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we might inform
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DEATH SENTENCES: HONG
ADU
the Sots?
A.R
31
1. The attached letter has been received from the Bishop of
Hong Kong and others. It is to be published in Hong Kong today.
Private Office have sent a simple acknowledgment to the lawyer
concerned in the UK.
I have
2. The signatories of the letter are mostly members of the
legal profession in Hong Kong or of Hong Kong University.
added a note of their professions as far as we know them. They are predominantly members of the non-Chinese establishment to
which the Governor referred in paragraph 3 of his telegram of
19 April. They make the valid point that there is an element
This is true of policy in the Governor's decision in this case.
to the extent that he has made it clear that he is responding to
the situation in Hong Kong as it exists today, including the
expectations of the predominantly Chinese population.
Otherwise
there are no new factors in the letter, and no need to send a
substantive reply at this stage when the whole question is under
review.
3. The publication of the letter in Hong Kong may, however,
attract the attention of the press in this country, which has hitherto ignored the case. News Department have the attached
contingency brief. TSOI's petition to the Queen is not mentioned in the Bishop of Hong Kong's letter, and we should
avoid discussion of it if possible. Since the Palace have not
1
CONFIDENTIAL
/yet
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.