TOP SECRET
BRIEF FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
CONTINGENCY PLANNING:
HONG KONG
(0.P.D. (67) 85)
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48
(i)
This paper covers two points:-
the feasibility of planning for an effective evacuation of
Hong Kong if we were suddenly forced to withdraw;
(ii) how we should deal publicly with questions about whether or
not we have evacuation plans for Hong Kong.
2. On the first point, the thesis is that no effective evacuation
plans for Hong Kong could be prepared without unacceptable risks to
our position in the Colony arising from any leakage of information.
Given the limitation that, because of the danger of leakage, we
are only free to consult the Governor and Commander British Forces in
Hong long, the most that could be done is to put together outline
plans in London; they would not, however, be matched by any
detailed arrangements in Hong Kong and would, therefore, not be
effective in the conditions and time scale in which we would have to
carry out an emergency withdrawal. The conclusion is that we
must be content with a last minute improvised "crash" operation to
effect the evacuation of as many vulnerable and sensitive persons
as we could manage.
3. The alternative is a planning operation in some detail
involving the participation of a number of Hong Kong officials anû
dangerously extending the circle of people in Hong Kong who would
be in the know. In the view of the Governor and of this Department,
the risk of leakage involved is too great; we know that this view
is shared at official level by the Foreign Office and the Linistry
of Defence, and we have reason to believe that their Ministers are
of the same opinion. There would be a different situation if
evacuation could be carried out in circumstances of a negotiated
withdrawal or even of Chinese acquiescence, both highly improbable
situations in present circumstances. Then we might have the time
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