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THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN RETAINED IN THE DEPARTMENT UNDER SECTION 3(4) OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1958
Military
17.
In the unlikely event of an outright Chinese military
invasion we could not defend Hong Kong and evacuation from
would be
the Colony is likely to be a very difficult, if not
impracticable operation.
However, the role of the forces
is to assist the Hong Kong Government in maintaining internal
security, deterring by their presence any precipitate action
by the Chinese and identifying aggression in the event of an
armed Chinese attack. To do this we maintain in Hong Kong a
garrison of the order of six to seven major units. A garrison
of this size is acceptable whilst there is a reinforcement
capability within the Far East Theatre. No Royal Air Force
aircraft, other than support helicopters, are stationed in
the Colony but aircraft make periodic visits to establish a
measure of control over local air space. One frigate and two
coastal minesweepers are maintained in the Colony on a
rotational basis from Singapore.
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/18.