TNAG-0932-FCO40-1151-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1980 — Page 28

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. SI 2 1 AUG 1980

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

PA

CHINA AFFAIRS

Incident at Sea

REGISTRY

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LIC HONG KONG

Action Taken REPORT FOR JULY 1980

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A RN Tug, HMT Clare, inadvertently entered Chinese waters while on anti-illegal immigration patrol near Hong Kong's western sea boundary during the hours of darkness on 3 July. The tug was eventually stopped by a Chinese patrol boat, which fired warning shots into the air in the belief that the tug

The was a vessel being used to carry illegal immigrants or for smuggling. Chinese patrol boat put six of its crew on to the tug, which was required to move to a location near Da Chan Island, about three miles north-west of the Hong Kong boundary. The Political Adviser made contact with the NCNA to ensure that the procedure agreed for dealing with such eventualities following the earlier incident in Mirs Bay (para 18, February 1980 Report) was adhered to, i.e. an exchange of statements by the two captains. The exchange was eventually completed after a delay of twelve hours, occasioned mainly by the need of the

Clare was then Chinese to consult Guangzhou and their slow communications. allowed to return to Hong Kong waters. With vessels from both sides patrolling in the same area after dark, the risk of such incidents remains despite the various

precautions being taken to avoid them.

However, the agreed procedure (as followed in this case) greatly reduces the danger of the incidents developing into serious confrontations, which the Chinese seem no less anxious to avoid

than the Hong Kong Government.

Airborne Medical Evacuation from China

2.

On 24 July a request was made by the US Consulate-General in Hong Kong for Hong Kong Government assistance in evacuating a critically ill American from a resort thirty miles north-east of Guangzhou. The Chinese medical authorities had advised evacuation and the Americans had obtained agreement

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