TNAG-0407-FCO40-453-Allegations-of-bribery-and-corruption-in-the-Hong-Kong-polic-1973 — Page 116

CONFIDENTIAL

NOTE:

5.

(f)

(g)

They will be unfamiliar with the sources of information (informants, etc) and again be entirely dependent upon the Branch, which is being subjected to campaign of discredit by the media.

I can foresee resentment by the Hong Kong Police, which must already have suffered a considerable blow to morale, to what might be considered an unwelcome intrusion.

In this connection, I must record again what I reported to the Governor last December, that the Hong Kong Police have for many years considered that they have little to learn from the UK Police Service and that, in my opinion, as an organisation, they are not as good as they think they are.

Therefore, on balance, if action in support of the efforts by the Hong Kong Government to "clean the Augean stable" is contemplated by HMG, I would strongly advise that it be done initially through a Commission of Enquiry. This would be without prejudice to the longer term reinforcement of the Hong Kong Folice Criminal Investigation Department by the secondment of competent UK detective officers, as recommended in my inspection report of December 1972 to the Governor.

8 August 1973

CONFIDENTIAL

مبر

MJ Macoun

OPA