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16. Our bilateral relations were further enlivened in September by an incident at the Vietnamese Embassy in London when a member of the staff brandished a pistol at demonstrators. The Ambassador handled it badly, pretending that it was a toy pistol. The MFA here were much more sensible, apologized and said that they would withdraw the man concerned. The real gun was surrendered, the man
expelled and an assurance sought that he would be duly punished. We were so assured. The Vietnamese were clearly anxious to minimise the effect of the incident.
17.
A minor achievement during the year was the release of the 32 Hong Kong fishermen caught fishing illegally in Vietnamese waters - for a price. Unfortunately, by the end of the year two British yachtsmen were in detention in the south, having illegally entered Vietnamese waters. Given that one is unbalanced and the other prepared to go to gaol rather than pay a fine, this case could become an unpleasant little running issue.
18. I am copying this despatch to HM Representatives at Bangkok, Peking, Manila, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Ukmis New York, Ukmis Geneva, Moscow, Washington, Paris and Hong Kong.
I am, Sir, Yours faithfully
Javni
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ET Davies
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