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FM HONG KONG
INDE
TO DESKBY 11110OZ FCO
TELNO 1591
OF 111OOZ OCTOBER 1993
INFO DESKBY 11110OZ PEKING
19 OCT 1993
7th D
MDHIAN 8661
TOP COPY
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$314/10
YOUR TELNO 623 AND PEKING TELNO 47 TO HONG KONG: XI YANG
·
1 WE WERE GRATEFUL FOR PEKING'S EFFORTS WITH THE MFA OVER THE WEEKEND. THERE HAVE NOW BEEN FURTHER TWISTS TO THE XI YANG STORY HERE.
2.
TODAY'S HONG KONG PRESS REPORTS REMARKS APPARENTLY MADE BY MING PAO CHAIRMAN YU BUN-HOI ON 10 OCTOBER IN PEKING. YU IS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT HE HAD REASON TO BELIEVE THAT XI MIGHT HAVE BROKEN CHINESE LAWS, THAT XI'S CASE WAS PURELY A CRIMINAL MATTER, AND THAT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BRITISH OR HONG KONG GOVERNMENTS.
3.
SINCE THIS CONTRADICTED WHAT MING PAO HAD PREVIOUSLY TOLD US, WE SOUGHT COMMENTS FROM THEIR SENIOR STAFF HERE. THEY CONFIRMED THAT YU HAD SPOKEN AS REPORTED. HE HAD DONE SO BECAUSE OF NEW INDICATIONS FROM THE CHINESE THAT IF MING PAO SHOWED SUFFICIENT CONTRITION, XI MIGHT BE RELEASED IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. BUT OUR CONTACTS ALSO CRITICISED YU FOR ''GOING TOO FAR'', PARTICULARLY ON WHETHER THE CASE WAS OF LEGITIMATE INTEREST TO HMG/HKG. THEY POINTED TO OTHER REMARKS BY YU QUOTED IN TODAY'S MING PAO EXPRESSING GRATITUDE FOR THE SUPPORT GIVEN TO XI BY THE HKG AND THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN PEKING. THEY ALSO REITERATED THAT THEY HAD NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT XI HAD GONE BEYOND NORMAL JOURNALISTIC PRACTICE.
4.
IN OUR OWN PUBLIC COMMENTS, WE NOW NEED TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN CREATING NEW OBSTACLES TO XI'S RELEASE AND REFLECTING THE WIDESPREAD CONCERN TO WHICH THE CASE HAS GIVEN RISE. WE ARE SEEKING TO DO THIS BY EMPHASISING THE GENERAL PROBLEMS FACED BY HONG KONG REPORTERS WORKING IN CHINA IN KNOWING WHAT IS LEGAL, AND DESCRIBING FACTUALLY THE EFFORTS MADE BY THE EMBASSY TO ELICIT DETAILS OF XI'S LEGAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
COMMENT
5.
THE UNEASE OF MING PAO STAFF ABOUT THIS CASE IS BEING ECHOED MORE WIDELY IN THE COMMUNITY. A FEELING IS GROWING THAT, DESPITE
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