TNAG-0496-FCO40-561-Deportation-of-foreign-nationals-from-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 19

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RECEIVED

GISTRY No 52

*

- 6 AUG 1974

NICKION

C W Squire Esq MVO

CONTENT "

MJ-e

Planckesed Itklop winches

(to HK to the bitin стонкой

South-East Asian Department Foreign & Commonwealth Office London SWI

BRITISH EMBASSY

SAIGON

Pak 4 30 July 1974

31/8

I quake to Tower. Pery, whe

drafting HK207).

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193)

is

reply (for dearance with

Daar Bill.

CNZ

N2

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

•

PA

6/8

1. It may be useful to have some more background on the two meetings I had with the Foreign Minister, as reported in my telegrams nos 200 and 203.

2.

(149)

One of the main points I made to Bac was that we had after all excellent assurances given by the Consulate-General in Hong Kong, both in discussion with the Hong Kong authorities and as a reminder I handed Bac a and in a press communiqué: copy of the public statement of 17 June as reported in Hong Kong

96 telegram no 735 of 9 July. Bac was, of course, well aware of

(139)

I also

this. He said two things: that if he had been in charge the case would have been conducted differently, and secondly, that the various statements made by the Consul General in Hong Kong

I am were the subject of an enquiry from the President. afraid their man there may be in for a hot time! tried to persuade Bac that he could put together a phrase which referred in some way to victims of the smuggling syndicate. 129) I pointed out that the corrected statement by the Government

spokesman (Truc) on 18 July (my telegram no 25 to Hong Kong of 18 July) as much as said that the people who were really in for

Bac commented on it were the organisers of the syndicate. this that it was one thing for General Binh or the Government spokesman (from the Ministry of Information) to make statements of this sort but he as a Minister, and into the bargain a lawyer, could not possibly be seen to risk prejudging the existence of a syndicate.

(18)

3. I also played up the international aspects of the case. Your instructions were useful in this respect and I mentioned in passing, the interest of the UK HCR (Hildyard's letter to you of 10 July) and the difficulties for the Hong Kong authorities vis-à-vis China. I also had from our local English-language paper a UPI piece datelined Saigon which suggested that draft- dodgers would be condemned to many hard years in the Army for their pains. I made the point that this case and in par- ticular the sentences likely to be passed were the object of

/widespread

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CONFIDENTIAL