香港總督府
SECRET
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
HONG KONG
IFL)
ALS
CIS
Asit Sec. Princinet
GSO
Z
G
AT
C.PY
F.
(383
My de Mello of it,
1st November 1975
3/4596/25
I am most grateful to you personally!
for the way in which you have conducted these negotiations, and I am glad that we have been able to initial draft Heads of Agreement with hope of these being converted into a firm agreement in December.
2.
I sincerely hope that thereafter we will be spared a further similar exercise for at least 7 years.
I have no doubt that the latter is in the interests certainly of the garrison, and also of the relations of the Hong Kong Government with its own people and with HMG.
3.
There is one point of potential weakness in the proposed package which I think we should face squarely. As is made clear in the complete record of our exchanges Unofficials required a direct connection between the agreement of the Hong Kong Government to increase its contributions in 1976/77 and 1977/78 and obtaining vacant possession of all or most of Kai Tak and Victoria Barracks, as subsequently agreed between us in the light of the working party's report. I should make clear that I am under contract to refer the latter's conclusions to Unofficials before acceptance of them.
4.
The increases in the Hong Kong Government's contribution set out in paragraph 2 are qualified by a reference to the arrangements in paragraph 4 and legally speaking this covers our position. While I do not believe that the Executive or Legislative Councils would wish to hold us to implementation to the minute, they would justifiably consider that, geological faults, acts of God or force majeur apart, a delay of months would justify postponement of an increase. This would present an extraordinarily difficult position for both of us.
The Rt Hon W T Rodgers
/over
S
84/198
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