the least unsatisfactory approach was to let matters take their
course and to wait for the release of Haueh, the New China News
Agency correspondent in prison in Hong Kong, with full remission
on 16 November in the hope that this will result in Grey's release.
We have recently received indications from delicate sources
in Hong Kong that the Chinese may indeed be contemplating the
release of Grey shortly. We can only hope that this is correct.
To avoid any possibility of misunderstanding, N.C.N.A. in Hong
Kong have been informed that provided he behaves himself in the
meantime Hsueh will be released with full remission on 16 November.
Meanwhile we have been faced with a new development.
In
Hong Kong the N.C.N.A. have demanded a visit to all the
imprisoned news workers. Formally, this may be taken as a
delayed response to our offer in July of a further round of
special visits in Hong Kong in exchange for a further visit to
Grey. But coming at this moment the Chinese move can be assumed
to have a special significance. One possibility, we very much
hope the true one, is that the Chinese are simply trying to
extract the last ounce of propaganda advantage by visiting
their news workers before Grey is released (whereupon they
automatically lose this lever). However, we must also reckon
with the possibility that by agreeing to a further exchange of
visits at this time they simply hope to divert pressure on them
regarding the plight of Mr. Grey without necessarily planning to
release him. Another worrying reature of the N.C.N.A. demand
CONFIDENTIAL
/ for a
C
CONFIDENTIAL
- 4 -
for a further round of visits is the implied hint that they
equate all fourteen imprisoned news workers with Mr. Grey.
We shall simply have to see how matters develop in the next few
days. If Mr. Grey is not released fairly soon, say within
four weeks, after Hsueh's release we shall be faced with a
very serious problem indeed. We shall have to review with
care what our next step should be. We shall of course keep
in close touch with you.
Looking at the brighter side of things and in the
anticipation of the early release of Grey, I know that my
officials are in touch with Reuters about how we can help you
to make his home-coming as little a strain for him as possible.
Defensive Notes
If Mr. Long refers to an Amnesty
As you yourself acknowledged in your letter of last July,
the idea of freeing convicted prisoners in Hong Kong in the
hope of securing Grey's freedom raises far-reaching and delicate
questions involving the maintenance of our authority in the
Colony. It would be very difficult to ask the Governor of
Hong Kong to take any step which he firmly believed would
undermine public confidence in the Colony.
If Mr. Long refers to the possible release of Lo
I know it has been argued that the release of Lo, the only
other N.C.N.A. journalist at present in prison in Hong Kong,
is relevant to the release of Mr. Grey. In the event that the
release of Hsueh P1ing does not lead to the release of Mr. Grey,
the matter
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
- 5-
the matter of Lo is something which we shall certainly have to
review. But I would not wish you to under-estimate the
difficulties involved. Lo was sentenced by due process of law
and in the normal course of events is not due for release until
September 1969 (with full remission).
Far Eastern Department
5 November, 1968.
CONFIDENTIAL
+
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No. DEPARTMENT
CEB43/1.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION PRIORITY MARKINGS
Tog Secret
Semergency
Confidential
Imperiédiate
Rosengred Unclassifed
Priority
Routine
En Blair. Lode
Cypher
[ Sec
Security classification
if any
[Codeword-if any)
1 Date and time (G.M.T.) telegram should
reach addressee(s)
(Dale)
Despatched
...‒‒‒‒.. '➖➖■ .JIJL
Draft Telegrany to:-
Addressed to
telegram No....
933.
And to..
Pekiny 933 11/11.
No.
(Date)
And to:--
Horyday
Repeat to:-
repeated for information to...
Saving to........
Your Telegram
LI.
Tolly
вотвор
A
L
TOP COPY
Peting
H Hom
Hạng rạng
ya
-HIT
- IRISILILIIN
-` . . .‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒I
-וידי--ינ "י1י
No 1010. Grey.
دل
----- חויי
. II L www.
Saving to:-
Letter for
Reuters
amivel
lotě
Too late for
the
inclusión
bog
steel left-
Distribution:-
FILES Defortant d
n
152
FE.D
recessary.
th feat to you
Hay Many Dugh follows by
Copies
оде
Porsche Deple News Dept.
Neverber
8 November.
we shoul
Otherwise
text- beg
Prop
refte
ви
kätegaple
it
21.
jupa mi
+
Registry No.
DEPARTMENT
8434/1
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
PRIORITY MU
MARKING
(Dale)
Top Secret
Confidencial Barriged Unclassifed
Smernicy Immediate Priority Routine
* Date and time (G.M.T.) telegram sheild
reach addressee(s).
37
Despatched
www
NOTHING TO BE Written in THIS MARGIN
En Clair. Loda
[
Cypher
Draft Telegramy to:-
No.
Peking 933
(Date) 12/11
And to:-
Horykay
Repeat to:-
Saving to:-
Distribution:-
Fines Defortarted
15452
川
11|1/458.
FE.D
Security classification
any
[Codeword-if any)
Addressed to
telegram No.
And to.....
יח
·
יו
1. Boufl
вар
Peking
933
...(date).
repeated for information 10..
Saving to
Your Telegram
Letter for
for lote for від ввесь веде
recessary
the text to you
Dopl. follows by
Kor, Defl Cophes to! -
Porselen ogl News Deft Ден
November
Hong Kong Кад
JE
1/4.
---
No fore
1010 bey
Reuters.
inclusion
$2
--- חוח
viel
mi the
8 November
we shoul
text-
lu
при
Otherwise
beg
lélegraphe
it
21
Flag B
Kr. Horton
Private Secretéry
CONFIDENTIAL
(Covering SECRET
Japa
4.15pm. 6 Now?!"
10
RECEIVED IN ARCHIVES No.31
- 7NOV 1968
Reeroff with alations Submitted. seferelety.
superdity. Pu5/11 FECI3C/1.
ES. ANTHONY GREY OF REUTERS
Flag A Kr. Gerald Long, the General, Kanager of Reuters, wrote
to the Secretary of State on 23 July, asking that consideration
be given to an act of clemency under which Chinese newspaper
workers imprisoned in Hong Kong would be released in the hope
that this would secure the release of Mr. Grey, the Reuters
correspondent who has been under house arrest in Peking since
last July. The Secretary of State sent an interim reply
promising to go into the matter with the Commonwealth
Secretary but underlining that Mr. Long's request raised
far-reaching and delicate questions involving the maintenance
of our authority in the Colony. Since then the Private
Secretary, Far Eastern Department and News Department have
kept Mr. Long regularly in touch with developments.
saw Mr. Long on 17 October and gave him a fairly detailed
account (@mitting names) of the covert probe of Chinese
intentions recently conducted in Hong Kong. It is important
that we have the full co-operation of Reuters in the delicate
stages of the handling of the Grey case which may lie ahead.
Recommendation
2. I recommend that the Secretary of State should see
Hr. Long and assure him of our concern for Mr. Grey.
I myself
I attach
talking points.
CONFIDENTIAL
(Covering SECRET)
Argument
CONFIDENTIAL
- 2 -
I do not link
Argument
3. At the end of my discussion with him on 17 October,
Kr. Long told me that he accepted that for the present the
correct course is now to wait for the release of Hsueh, the
New China News Agency correspondent imprisoned in Hong Kong,
on 16 November in the hope that this will result in the release
of Grey. But he, like ourselves, is worried about the
situation with which we shall be confronted if the release
of Haush does not secure the release of Grey.
4. It might be better if the Secretary of State did not
take the initiative with Mr. Long in raising the matter of
an amnesty in Hong Kong - Our discussions with the Governor
on 25 October underlined the difficulties. There was general
agreement that an amnesty for any considerable number of
convicted prisoners was quite out of the question. However
I personally think that if Grey is not released by December
we shall have to consider very carefully the desirability of
the premature release of Lo, despite the Governor's strong
objections to this course. - I have included a guarded defensive
Mare talking point on this aspect in the speaking notes.
da should qin I'm Long day hint of
this
at present.
Background
Flag C 5.
The background to the case of Mr. Grey is given in our
note of 22 October.
Copy to: Sir J. Johnston
Jan May
(James Hurray)
30 October, 1968.
CONFIDENTIAL
The S.gs. agrees.
Sm 31
Folaul'
31/x.
CONFIDENTIAL
TALKING POINTS
MR. ANTHONY GREY OF REUTERS
Anthony Grey, your correspondent detained in Peking
has been very much on my mind in recent months. I know
that my officials have been keeping you in touch with what has
been going on. I have asked you to call to-day to underline
my personal interest and to assure you that I have been
following developments very closely. I had an opportunity
to discuss the whole matter in some detail last week with
the Governor of Hong Kong who has just come back to this
country on leave.
We have always thought that it would be impolitic to
try to negotiate the release of Mr. Grey through formal chanels
with the Chinese. Je consider that this could only encourage
the Chinese to name a price quite unacceptable to us (e.g. the
releaseof large numbers of convicted prisoners in Hong Kong);
and this might well delay rather than speed the conclusion of
this unhappy affair. However, as the Head of Far Eastern
Department has already told you in confidence, the Governor
of Hong Kong was instructed last month to conduct a probe of
Chinese intentions through covert channels. The intermediary
was selected by him with much care. The intermediary's initial
reaction to our approach was somewhat surprising. He made it
clear that in his view any negotiation with the Chinese about
Grey would be an act of folly. He gave three reasons; -
CONFIDENTIAL
/ a)
The
[
CONFIDENTIAL
-
- 2 -
a) The Chinese would be bound to raise their terms, probably
b)
c)
demanding the release of all newspaper workers imprisoned
in Hong Kong as the quid pro quo.
It would encourage the Chinese to arrest more British
subjects as a means of exerting pressure on us.
It would embarrass the "moderate" elements in Peking,
with whom the intermediary was in contact, by showing
that a policy of seizing hostages produced results.
At subsequent meetings the intermediary intimated that
he had received messages from the Chinese on the following
lines. He should not go ahead with discussions with the
Hong Kong authorities about an exchange;
any negotiation
would embarrass the Chinese authorities and force them to
dezand a high specific price for Grey. In fact "there was
no price". The Chinese authorities would prefer simply to
release Grey "in their own time", which would in the view of
the intermediary, be in the fairly near future.
In the conduct of a covert operation of this delicacy
the difficulty is of course to decide how much reliance can
be placed on the intermediary. The Hong Kong authorities
have, however, had much experience with this intermediary.
They regard him as reliable and think that he has faithfully
retailed what the Chinese have told him.
We accordingly decided that in this difficult situation
the least unsatisfactory approach was to let matters take their
course and to wait for the release of Hsueh, the New China News
/ Agency
CONFIDENTIAL
T
+
CONFIDENTIAL
3
-
Agency correspondent in prison in Hong Kong, with full remission
on 16 November in the hope that this will result in Grey's
release.
We have recently received indications from delicate sources
in Hong Kong that the Chinese may indeed be contemplating the
release of Grey shortly. We can only hope that this is
correct. To avoid any possibility of misunderstanding, N.C.H.A.
in Hong Kong have been informed that provided he behaves
himself in the meantime Hsueh will be released with full
remission on 16 November.
If Grey is not released fairly soon, say within four weeks,
after Hsueh's release we shall be faced with a very serious
problem indeed. We shall have to review with care what our
next step should be. We shall of course keep in close touch
with you.
Looking at the brighter side of things and in the
anticipation of the early release of Grey, I know that my
officials are in touch with Reuters about how we can help you
to make his home-coming as little a strain for him as possible.
Defensive Notes
If Mr. Long refers to an Anebety7
As you yourself acknowledged in your letter of last July,
the idea of freeing convicted prisoners in Hong Kong in the
hope of securing Grey's freedom raises far-reaching and delicate
questions involving the maintenance of our authority in the
Colony. It would be very difficult to ask the Governor of
Hong Kong
CONFIDENTIAL
JONFIDENTIAL
- 4-
اشد
904.
Hong Kong to take any step which he firmly believed would
undermine public confidence in the Colony. To, the only
othez Nrð:Nrå, journalist at present in prison in Hong Kong,
is perhaps a special case. But this is a matter which we shall certainly
have to review in the whhappy event that the release of Hsueh does not
lead to the release or Gray.
Far Eastern Department,
30 October, 1968.
CONFIDENTIAL
+
Cypher/Cat A
SECRET
FEC
RECEIVED IN ARCHIVES No.31
9
EDIATE PEKING TO FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Telno. 1010
SECRET
6 November, 1968
Jsm
при
¡ -6 NOV 1968
FEC 13C/1
Wom
7/1
1010
Repeated
Addressed to FCO telegram No. 1010 of 6 November. for information to
Hong Kong.
Your telegram No. 922.
While we shall respect Reuters wishes on the question of news
conference, it might prove difficult to prevent Grey being "interviewed
by other correspondents" especially since two of them (Bargnenn and
Tanjug notebly) are almost his only surviving friends here. If Grey
wishes to see then, I doubt if we have a right to prevent him.
2. May I suggest that most tectful course would be for Reuters to send
us a sealed letter of instructions, which we can give Grey if he is
released in Peking. This should leeve London by 8 November confidential
beg if it is to reach here before 16 November.
FCO pass Routine Hong Kong.
Mr. Heaton
Repeated as requested/
DEPARTMENTAL DISTRIBUTION
Far Eastern Department Hong Kong Department. Consuler Department. News
Department.
XXXXX
SECRET
+
ADVANCE COPIES SENT
REUTERS
8
1 November 1968
Mr James Murray CMG
Far Eastern Department The Foreign Office Downing Street
London SW1
Incapurrature into
ki
J
¡AKLEY NO
308
a fel. to Pelney.
ab.
Карты
FECIBC/10
Dear Mr Murray
David Chipp has told me of his conversation with you on October 30 about
Anthony Grey and I am writing to let you know our thoughts about the
procedure to be followed when he is released, I am presuming that the
Chinese will not themselves take him to the border and hand him over but
that he will simply have the restrictions lifted in Peking.
We know that he will be well looked after by his friends at the British
Mission and I would be grateful if you would pass on the following
points to the Charge d'Affaires.
1.
2
3.
4.
Our view is that in no circumstances should Mr Grey give a press
conference or be interviewed by other correspondents in Peking. We say
this because we think we should get Mr Grey safely out of China before
he says anything.
We should like an immediate report on Mr Grey's physical and mental
health.
If he is fit, he should travel out of China by the fastest possible
route. It would seem to us that Moscow might be the best way.
We leave the timing of Mr Grey's departure to Mr Cradock, if he has any
say in the matter, as this will obviously depend on Mr Grey's state of
health. He may want to get out quickly but on the other hand he may
prefer to get used to the outside world among friends for a few days.
Gerald Long General Manager Reuters Limited 85 Fleet Street London EC4
Telephone Fleet Street 6060
[
I
-
- 2
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.