TNAG-0609-FCO40-757-Local-Intelligence-Committee-assessment-of-political-situati-1977 — Page 16

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Mr Stewart

MONTHLY ASSESSMENTS

1.

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1/2/77/7003

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Mr Milton has asked me to consider whether or not we should seek permission to show the Hong Kong L.I.C.'s monthly assessment telegrams to the Hong Kong Government Office here in London.

2. PUSD say that they have no objection to the Hong Kong Commissioner seeing these telegrams and it might be possible, were we to approach them by letter - I have only sought an informal view so far - to persuade the Cabinet Office also to release them. The Hong Kong Government would perhaps have to be consulted as well but I cannot, at first thought, identify any reasonable grounds on which they are likely to object.

3. I have attempted to discover from Security Department whether Hong Kong have the proper facilities for holding material classified UK SECRET. But Mr Kirby, the Assistant, does not know. The Hong Kong Commissioner will, of course, know himself but, if we were to consult Mr Kidd at this stage, he might react in a way which pre- empted the chance we have at present to consider this matter in isolation from external pressures.

4. On the broader question of whether or not we should pass these assessments to the Hong Kong Government Office, my view is that we should not. In my opinion these assessments very rarely contain anything of interest that cannot be gleaned from the British or, more usualy, the Hong Kong press. I am very ready to go through the hoops of consulting the Cabinet Office, the Hong Kong Government and their office in London but I doubt the result would be worth the work.

CODE 18 - 77

7 July 1977

cc: Mr Milton o.r.

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T J David

Hong Kong & General Department

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