П.
Mr. Godden
SECRET
N... Stepper M
K. 401, (for intimal breefing file)
Meeting with the Governor of Hong Kong
at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 26 November, 1969
18
& corner ofschadi for Kai Tax
& haben Fills.
Lord Shepherd is seeing Sir David Trench at 3 p.m. this
afternoon.
I take it that he will (as previously) be taking
Sir David along to the Secretary of State with whom there is an
appointment at 4 p.m.
2. I have already sent you a copy of the brief on "domestic" items
for the Secretary of State (Far Eastern Department's brief on
11 external" items is being separately prepared in the light of
yesterday afternoon's meeting with the Governor).
3. I suggest that the points on which Lord Shepherd might
concentrate with the Governor are :-
(i) Air cover for Hong Kong after 1971: the submission made to the
Minister is attached. In discussions at official level the
Governor confirmed that he saw no alternative to accepting the
cover to be provided by detachments of aircraft on training
visits: he made the additional point that it was hardly worth
going to all the trouble involved to secure the stationing in
Hong Kong of aircraft (Hunters) that were in any case to be
phased out by about 1975 at the latest. We made the points
that :-
RECEIVED IN
(a) it might be possible to step up the level of visits
by training aircraft;
REGISTRY No.51 (b) it was intended to put in the reservation that if
28 NOV 1969
HKK!//
such visits failed to deter incursions into Hong
Kong's air space the decision not to station
permanent air cover in the Colony would have to be
reviewed.
The Secretary of State's brief covers both these points. /(ii)...