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(2) WE CANNOT RELY ON THE EMBARGO BEING RESPECTED BY THE MEDIA AND PROPOSE TO PROVIDE THEM WITH COPIES OF THE
GREEN PAPER AT 2130 HOURS HONG KONG TIME .ON WEDNESDAY
27 APRIL. AT THE SAME TIME, WE SHALL ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE, CONTAINING SOME GUIDANCE, SIMILAR TO THAT
PROVIDED FOR THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
(3) THERE WILL BE AN UNATTRIBUTABLE BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY
THE DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION ON THE MORNING (HONG KONG TIME) OF THURSDAY 28 APRIL.
(4) WE ARE CONSIDERING THE PREPARATION OF A CHINESE VERSION
BOTH OF THE GREEN PAPER AND OF THE GUIDANCE. THIS SEEMS
DESIRABLE IN VIEW OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ENGLISH
DOCUMENT AND TO AVOID THE CHINESE PRESS USING THEIR OWN
(POSSIBLY MISLEADING) TRANSLATION OF THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE PAPER. IT IS LIKELY THAT WE SHALL ISSUE THE CHINESE
VERSION ON ABOUT 29 APRIL.
4. TO ENSURE THAT WE PUBLISH A DEFINITIVE VERSION OF THE GREEN PAPER, WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR EARLY CONFIRMATION THAT THE
FINAL DRAFT CONTAINS NO CHANGES FROM THE DRAFT ALREADY FORWARDED
TO US.
5. IT WOULD ALSO BE HELPFUL IF WE COULD HAVE AN ADVANCE COPY
OF THE TEXT OF THE STATEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE HOME SECRETARY,
SO THAT THIS CAN ALSO BE ISSUED TO THE MEDIA AT 2130 ON 27
APRIL WITHOUT THE INEVITABLE DELAY WHICH IS INVOLVED IN THE
RECEIPT OF THE ACTUAL TEXT IN THE VERBATIM SERIES WHICH WOULD
PRECLUDE LOCAL PUBLICATION IN THE PRESS FOR THE MORNING NEWS-
PAPERS. ON 28 APRIL. WE REGARD IT AS IMPORTANT TO ACHIEVE THIS.
6. WE HAVE NOTED YOUR ADVICE IN PARA 4 OF TELEGRAM NO 1 SAVING
TO ABIDJAN THAT EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC
ADDRESSED TO US SHOULD SIMPLY BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND COPIED TO
THE F C O. WE SHALL NEED TO CONSIDER IN THE LIGHT OF THE
VOLUME AND TYPE OF COMMENT WHETHER, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EXISTING PRACTICE BY WHICH THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT HERE
ACTS ON BEHALF OF THE F C O AND HOME OFFICE OVER A WIDE RANGE
OF IMMIGRATION MATTERS, INCLUDING THE ISSUE OF TRAVEL
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