TNAG-0642-FCO40-790-Kowloon-Walled-City-and-aircraft-safety-in-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 125

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by David jus

• HKD W David

Mr Stewart, HKD

R&R pre 1924

IM

0.51

2

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RE.

28 JAN 1977

HKK 183/1

HONG KONG : THE WALLED CITY AND AIRCRAFT SAFETY

1. I have just read with great interest Mr David's minute to you on this subject. Apart from the human consequences of an aircrash resulting from over-building in the Walled City

I fully share Mr David's concern about the political implications. This is clearly a matter primarily for Hong Kong Department, but I should like to intervene because I feel we may underestimate the willingness of the (Peking) Chinese authorities to be helpful. A disaster would be no more in their interests than it would in ours.

2.

Mr David notes in para 8(a) that the Kaifong Welfare Promotion Committee is susceptible to influence from Peking, and I am particularly struck by the fact that NCNA actively intervened in 1973 to back up the Hong Kong Government. It seems to me that if one could make a good enough case to ask for Peking's inter- vention in the Kai Tak problem, which is clearly of much greater importance, they might in the present cooperative climate be willing to do so. No doubt it would be better to do this locally, rather than in Peking, given the argument about jurisdiction over the Walled City itself and our need not to encourage a greater degree of overt intervention by Peking in the Colony. I think it would be worth looking more carefully at the Peking angle, nonetheless, and would be happy to describe the problem to Sir E Youde and ask for his comments, if you think this might be useful. In any case I think it would be worth reminding the Embassy that the problem exists.

24 January 1977

CC

Miss Watson, MTD

Antand Simmel

R C Samuel

Far Eastern Department

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