CONFIDENTIAL
036671 MDHIAN 0187
IN THE POTENTIAL PR ADVANTAGES OF SHOWING CLEMENCY. THE IDEAL FOR US, OF COURSE, WOULD BE IF THEY RELEASED FATHER AND SON AT THE SAME TIME, BEFORE, DURING OR JUST AFTER THE PM'S VISIT.
5. SUBJECT TO HIS OWN VIEWS, HM AMBASSADOR COULD MAKE A PARTICULAR POINT OF RAISING THE HONG KONG DETENTION CASES, HIGHLIGHTING THAT OF LUO HAIXING. MIGHT THIS BE DONE WITH LU
PING?
6.
WHILE THE FAMILY WOULD WISH US TO BE CAREFUL WITH THE INFORMATION IN PARAS 3 AND 4 ABOVE, HMA COULD STRESS THE VERY BENEFICIAL EFFECTS THERE WOULD BE IN HONG KONG CAND ELSEWHERE) WERE THE HONG KONG CASES TO BE RECONSIDERED. (IN PRACTICE THIS WOULD MEAN ONLY LUO: WE ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY PETITION ON BEHALF OF THE OTHERS.) I ALSO IMAGINE THE CONCRETE RESULT OF LUO'S RELEASE (OR A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION OF HIS SENTENCE) WOULD SERVE THE PM'S INTERESTS IN LONDON BETTER THAN MERE REFERENCE TO HAVING GENERALLY RAISED THE SUBJECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DETAINED DISSIDENTS WITH THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP.
7. WE ARE REPORTING SEPARATELY A POSSIBLE ATTEMPT BY CONGRESSWOMAN NANCY PELOSI AND CONGRESSMAN BEN JONES TO BRING A GROUP OF CHINESE DISSIDENTS TO HONG KONG NEXT WEEKEND. THE INTENTION IS APPARENTLY CONFRONTATIONAL AND THE TIMING DELIBERATE. HAVING SOMETHING TO SHOW FOR QUIET DIPLOMACY ON LUO WOULD AID US GREATLY IN ARGUING THAT NOISY PUBLIC PROTESTS ARE NOT THE WAY TO GET BEST RESULTS WITH CHINA.
FORD
YYYY
DISTRIBUTION
78
ΜΑΙΝ
76
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO
PROTOCOL D
(CHINA AND HONG KONG)
RAD
LIMITED
PS
FED
PS/LORD CAITHNESS
PUSD
HKD
NEWS D
PS/PUS
SIR J COLES
MR BURNS
PLANNERS
ADDITIONAL
2
PS/PM
NNNN
PAGE
2
CONFIDENTIAL
SIR P CRADOCK NO.10
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