SECRET & PERSONAL
Jeaffreson's letter of 5 February 1971 (to me).
ter of
تولید
have reached an impasse with the Ministry of Defence
over this item and they are pressing us for
reimbursement of the amou
each
moueriew
the arguments on
either side in this case are, in our view, more.
precify
evenly balanced (eg we might be able to make out a
good case for Hong Kong on the grounds that this
expenditure on military border posts arose from
the external threat posed by the possibility of
incursions by militant Red Guards) although in all
honesty we do feel that to draw a distinction
between "Highland Bonnet" and "Spring Clean" rather
savours of hair-splitting. In any event, if you
do not regard the item as a legitimate charge to
the Hong Kong Government we shall have to include
it in our discussions with the Treasury and it will
not have an easy passage.
8.
Additional Allowances for Hong Kong Other Ranks.
The third item is microscopic in size and concerns
an amount of £118 which was spent by the military
authorities on additional allowances for certain
Hong Kong other ranks to cover the extra cost of
food etc. when the personnel in question were
detained at their place of duty overnight during the
disturbances. We understand that an application for
the necessary funds to meet this claim was put to the
Hong Kong Finance Committee who disallowed it on
the grounds that the expenditure was not considered
to be a fair charge to public funds (see Jeaffreson's
letter to Gaminara of 12 November 1971). Originally
the local military authorities in Hong Kong decided
to withdraw this claim on "de minimis" grounds since
/it
4.
SECRET & PERSONAL
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NOTHING TO BE written IN THIS MARGIN