BACKGROUND NOTE
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Hooley
Mr Hooley's Question harks back to his intervention in the Defence Debate Hansard Vol 883 Col 1232-37 and explores the
same ground as his PQ of January 8th Mansard Vol 984 Col 1697.
Since Mr Hooley is an opponent of a military presence in Hong
Kong, it is probably designed to lead in to the general question
of justifying our continuing presence. His intention is probably
then to argue that, since there is no air defence against attack,
our troops cannot be capable of meeting a serious threat and
ought therefore to be replaced by some form of gendarmerie.
Force levels
2. At present the Hong Kong garrison consists of:
RN
Army
RAF
1 frigate
5 patrol craft
2 UK Infantry Battalions
3 Gurkha Infantry Battalions
1 Artillery Regiment
1 Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron
1 Gurkha Field Squadron (Engineers)
8 Wessex helicopters
The Defence Review proposal is that the garrison should be reduced
by one major unit, 2 patrol craft and certain support facilities,
Role of the British forces
3. As Hong Kong is a Colony, HMC is responsible for its
external defence and internal security. The garison is maintained
in support of our commitments the most important of which is
internal security. The cost of maintaining internal security is
/normally