CONFIDENTI AL
Draft letter from the Secretary of State for Defence to the
Reverend John Huxtable.
You wrote to me on the 25th June enclosing a document which
purported to deal with the use of Hong Kong as a United States
"base" for the war in Vietnam. You asked whether there was some
substance of truth in the allegations contained in the document,
or at least an indication that the matter was more serious than I
had suggested in my earlier letter.
The answers to both these questions are in the negative and there is very little
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#
W
that I can add vermick to what
said-en
le subject
here is fro” “"truth"
that Hong Kong is being used my
....
exertion
warchipe
operating in Vietnam.
JA continue to
United States Naval vessels which visit
Hong Kong, do so solely for purposes of rest and recreation and the
Α
only facilities which they receive are those normally available in
7
ny-Major Port. An no case are any warlik or operational stores
provided for them I cannot agree that this amounts to providing
a "base of operations and logistics centre" as the document alleges.
/ the
ви
information contrines
my
helter to
6" February.
you g
CONFIDENTIAL