TNAG-2909-FCO40-4183-Detention-of-Hong-Kong-residents-in-China-1993 — Page 26

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FM PEKING

TO DESKBY 08103OZ FCO

TELNO 1352

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OF 080956Z OCTOBER 93

AND TO DESKBY 08103OZ HONG KONG INFO IMMEDIATE UKREP JLG HONG KONG

HONG KONG TELNO 1583: XI YANG

REC

oist,

12 OCT 1993

مام

136161 MDHIAN 8467

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are always prepared to intervene with the Chinese on behalf of Hong Kong residents. If the individual holds a British passport we are usually able to extract a response in due course. In this case our Locus is very thin since Xi Yang has been in Hong Kong for only three years and is not even a permanent resident, let alone a BDTC. the likelihood that we will get a meaningful response form the Chinese is therefore very small. Nonetheless, we are quite prepared to make enquiries along the lines in TUR.

2.

If we are to stand any chance of making progress we will need to speak in a non-confrontational manner. With that in mind I should prefer a slight modification of the Line in para 5 of TUR. We would ask for clarification of the offences with which Xi is charged, and of the legal procedures to which he will now be subject. We can press for access for Xi's colleagues and Lawyer but since Chinese criminal law does not provide for access by a Lawyer or family members until a trial date has been set (at which time a lawyer may be allowed to see them), there is little hope of success on this point.

3.

We would prefer to deal with the point about the uncertainty faced by journalists working in China in knowing what is legal and what is not (para 5 of TUR) by explaining the difficulty Hong Kong journalists have in understanding which rules apply to them and requesting the MFA to publish and explain the rules so that in future journalists can avoid transgressing Chinese law.

There is no

Counsellor has asked for a call on Wang Guisheng (Deputy Director, HKMAO, MFA) tomorrow morning (9 October). certainty that the MFA will agree to receive him. If they refuse Counsellor will seek to make his points on the telephone, or failing that in writing. In the meantime, it would be better for Hong Kong not to go into detail, in answer to press questions, on

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