Micaloberish /
(a)
For the present, in administering the
Colony we must assume, and be seen to
assume, that we shall be there at any
rate until 1997.
This may seem a somewhat
[Extempore] policy.
As
I acknowledged at the outset, disaster could
befall us at any time with very little notice.
But short of some radical transformation of the
situation, e.g. an all-out effort by the Chinese
to make our position intolerable or an expressed
determination by them to take over the Colony
in the fairly near future, the approach I have
outlined might see us through at any rate the
which is perhaps as
next five to ten years
-
far ahead as it is prudent to look in dealing
with Hong Kong.
7.
The conclusions above are broadly in line
with the conclusions and recommendations of the
report K(69)1. Accordingly, I propose that the
Committee, if it shares my views, should give
general endorsement to the recommendations of
K(69)1; and taking up the particular recommenda-
tion that future policy with regard to Hong Kong
be reviewed at regular intervals in consultation
with the Governor, should direct officials to
undertake a further review in the course of this
year in time to submit a revised report to the
Committee in the first half of 1971 by which
time the next Governor should have taken up his
/post.
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