CONFIDENTIAL
3.
7.
We have still to decide whom to appoint as liaison officers. Our preliminary ideas are to use immigration officers at Lowu plus two selected police officers from the frontier district, We will probably have our end of the telephone link at the frontier immigration and police posts with night time service the responsibility of the police. As for those who will attend border meetings, that will clearly have to depend on the subject being discussed. We envisage a core group consisting of Security Branch
(probably the Deputy Secretary), one of the Assistant Political Advisers and representatives from Police, Immigration and Customs.
8.
The effectiveness of this new system will depend very much on how the Chinese decide to play it. At the minimum it should provide a means of more rapid and direct communication than exists at present. If we can get it to work well, it could also provide a useful means of ensuring that we are informed about developments in Shenzhen which might affect us and visa versa. I have no doubt that the new system will also throw up some difficult problems, such as Chinese requests for the return to China of people accused of committing crimes there. We will have to deal with these as they occur and ensure that our side of the arrangement is carefully briefed and their activities carefully monitored.
9.
We will report later on further arrangements for liaison officers and the first meeting.
сс
RJT McLaren Esq Far Eastern Department
M W Atkinson Esq MBE PEKING
(D C Wilson)
CONFIDENTIAL
eves
d
Page 15Page 16
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.