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EVACUATION: HONG KONG
(Hong Kong Department Submission of 25 September)
Speaking Notes for Meeting with Mr. Harper, MP. or other members of Parliamentary group who visited
Hong Kong
1. I understand that there was some discussion with the Governor
in Hong Kong about the absence of plans for the evacuation of British
nationals from Hong Kong and the reasons for this. I would like to
emphasise the delicacy of this issue in Hong Kong and to underline
what the Governor has said to you about the disastrous effect on
confidence in the Colony if anything was said or done which indicated
or implied that we might be contemplating withdrawal from our position
there.
2. It is primarily for this reason that we have decided it is not
possible to prepare any worthwhile plans for evacuation. The risks
we would run by making detailed local arrangements are too great;
knowledge of the existence of plans would be widespread and leakage
would be unavoidable. Outline plans not matched by detailed
arrangements on the ground would be valueless in an emergency.
3. In any case if (as is likely to be the case) the Chinese decided
to prevent an evacuation any detailed plans we might have would be
equally useless. We would have neither the time nor the military
cover to carry out plans for the evacuation of 26,000 non-Chinese
including some 12,000 British and Commonwealth citizens, much less the
two million or so British citizens of Chinese race (even if somewhere
could be found for the latter to go. An evacuation could only be
successfully carried out if the Chinese decided for their own reasons
that it would suit them to let us remove non-Chinese from the Colony;
we might then possibly be given sufficient time and freedom from
interference to mount an extempore operation.
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