TNAG-1095-FCO40-1345-Visas-for-Chinese-nationals-visiting-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 37

SECRET

40

布政司署

香港下亞畢道

本署檔號 OUR REF:

TS 5/61

來函檔號 YOUR REF:

HIR 345/4

нки

ROPE.51 9152 viny No. 51 - 2 OCT 1981

DESK OFFICER

PERSONAL

ONAL

R D/Clift Esq

is

PA

م

STRY

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

28 September, 1981

Action Tak McQuade

•

Loom. Williams J2.0.

24/0

कण किनाम

de

Pehin.

Hong Kong & General Department

FO

, Сутай Smart with by

Jecte,

EX-HONG KONG POLICE OFFICER JOHN TSANG

(ZENG (or CENG) ZHAOKE)

2/10

(39

I sent you a copy of my letter of 18 September to Michael Atkinson on the strange story of how the Chinese were apparently trying to slip into Hong Kong the notorious ex-Hong Kong Police Officer John Tsang.

2.

There is a final odd twist to the story. On 23 September the MFA applied to the Embassy in Peking for visas for a group from Guangdong's Jinan University to transit Hong Kong on the way to Canada. The Embassy were told that the group was intending to travel the following day. The list included John Tsang (in the romanised version Zeng Zhaoke). Fortunately the Embassy picked this up and referred the visas to us. We said that the visa for Zeng should be refused but the others granted. (I am attaching copies of the relevant telegrams for you and FED.)

3.

At the same time as sending the telegram to Peking I spoke to NCNA, expressing my astonishment that, after all we had said, this visa application should still be made. A note of that conversation is attached. As you will see, NCNA said they were equally surprised. They have this morning told us that the delegation has arrived "without Zeng".

4.

We are left with the problem of whether they were trying to pull a fast one despite what we had said about Zeng being unwelcome. I am inclined to think that this was not the case and that the visa application was made only because the bureaucratic machinery continued to grind on despite the exchanges at a diplomatic level.

If so, it is a classic example of the inefficiency of the Chinese bureaucratic machinery, even where matters of some delicacy are involved.

SECRET

/contd.