TNAG-0560-FCO40-655-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 10

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Reference..........

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· Ehrough - to see para ?,

which

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may be of

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11.4.

Director of Research

Mr Wottery

Diffwiddy 8 1414 L.G.Z. 14/4

驻

REFERENCE TO THE HEAD OF RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF THE FOREIGN OFFICE IN A BOOK BY MR R DEACON

.

1 You will be interested to see the reference on page 309 of Mr Deacon's book,' a History of the Chinese Secret Service', to the "Head of the Research Department of the Foreign Office" as a cover

for the Head of DI6, who is named as Maurice Oldfield.

2. I have read quickly through the book, and I think the above reference is likely to be only one among many errors and inventions in the book.

3. Mr Deacon devotes a chapter (pages 435-447) to allegations of Chinese exports of narcotics through Hong Kong. Such allegations have been made from time to time by the Chinese Nationalists and by the Russians but neither the Americans nor the Hong Kong Government has found any evidence to support them. Mr Deacon, relying on Nationalist and Soviet sources, claims: "From Hong Kong, Saigon and Bangkok comes incontrovertible evidence of traffic from Mainland China" (page 441). He says "The Hong Kong Government, notoriously lax and complacent in the face of growing corruption in its own colonial police force, has for years turned a blind eye to the traffic or pretended it was not happening. In 1973 the Hong Kong Police is said to have stepped up its action against the narcotics trade after an American threat of "sanctions" unless Hong Kong co-operated in stamping out trafficking. (Pages 442-3). However, Mr Deacon accuses American as well as British officials of attempting to cover up their knowledge of the traffic for political reasons in recent years (page 446).

11

11 April 1975

kcwalker

(KC Walker)

Research Department

cc Mr Ehrman, FED

RECEIVED REGISTRY No.52:

14 APR 1975

NXK 19))