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Reference......
Mr. Rushford
The Requisitioning of Ships Order, 1955 (Flag D)- as amended at Flag E was made for the purposes of giving effect to a plan for the evacuation of Hong
Kong. There is no longer any such plan; however, it is envisaged that a limited "crash" operation to evacuate certain sensitive and vulnerable people will
be carried out if the need arises. The powers of
requisition may be needed for this and it is not proposed to revoke the Order.
The
2. But the Order does need refurbishing, as it is
thoroughly out-of-date. I am not happy about the
suggestion by Mr. Cruchley that the first draft
of a new Order should be prepared in Hong Kong.
It seems to me that the matters needing revision require "home" rather than Hong Kong expertise. substitution of "President of the Board of Trade"
for "Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation" is straightforward enough. But do the "Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty" still exist? As is
proposed, we can of course provide Hong Kong with a
revised list of countries to be included in the
exclusions from the definition of "British ship".
Despite the appearance in this context in the existing Order of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, is it right at this point of time that Rhodesia should be so included (it is in the list behind the draft letter to the Governor)?
3. While I cannot claim any pressing priority for
this task, I do consider it most desirable that an
up-to-date Order should be made as soon as possible.
I would be content if the revision could be undertaken
in the next five to six weeks so that a first draft
is then available which we can either show to Mr. Roberts (who will be here on leave) or send to
Hong Kong for comments.
16 June, 1969
6.5. Arter
(W. S. Carter)
Hong Kong Department