SECRET
IMMEDIATE
possible but assume that there is no possibility, granted the terms of the 26 June agreement, of delaying beyond Tuesday 17
October. We suggest, therefore, that when you inform them of the
flight details, you should also explain to the Vietnamese that we
are now ready to sign the Agreed Minute but, in the interests of
keeping the operation low-key (an objective which we assume they fully share), we should like the actual signing to take place on
our intention to in
detail ofta
Monday October 30. You should add that it is, o
You should add that it is our say as little as possible about the
the operation although, granted
press interest in the subject, it may be impossible to get away
with saying nothing whatever. We propose that our delegation to
SC3 should take parallel action by explaining our intentions to
the Vietnamese delegation in Geneva next week.
ACTION BY HONG KONG
4 Ministers would like to consider the detailed modalities of
the first deportation operation. They are concerned that news of
the operation on 31 October will leak as soon as the Dragonair
aircraft is confirmed for that date. Is there any way of
avoiding this risk, for example by using another aircraft? They
are also interested in the fine detail (eg timing, movement of
deportees from Phoenix House to Kai Tak, whether an air bridge
will be used into the aircraft, whether the operation should be
video taped, the legal basis of deportation etc). They are also
concerned that disembarkation in Hanoi should be orderly, and
that, as far as possible, Hong Kong security police should remain
out of sight.
5 Our aim is to submit a consolidated recommendation to
Ministers by Friday October 20 to enable a decision to be made
whether to proceed on 31 October. It would be useful to have your
views and comments prior to SC3.
by 13 October.
Grateful therefore for replies
MAJOR
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