PLANNING FACTORS
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17. All the planning factors recorded in CDS 7/87 remain valid. Two in par-
ticular are worthy of emphasis:
a. Retention of Flexibility.
It remains vital that the withdrawal plan
provides flexibility to accommodate future changes to the threat
assessment, slippage of the Police expansion plan and swings in the popula-
tion's confidence driven by such factors as the international financial
situation or potentially unsatisfactory implementation of the provisions of
the 1984 Joint Declaration.
18.
b.
Preservation of Confidence.
The preservation of public confidence in
the security and stability of Hong Kong in the years prior to 1997 is cru-
cial; public perception of the credibility of the forces of law and order -
the police supported by the military - will remain a keystone of this
process; this must not be overlooked despite other considerations which may
be brought to bear on judgement of the Garrison's strength in the future.
In addition to the above, 2 issues were developed during 1988, which have
assumed importance as planning factors:
a.
Revised Roles and Tasks and Revised Directive. In acknowledgement of
Hong Kong's changed situation since the signing of the Joint Declaration in
1984, MOD proposed changes to the role and tasks of the garrison; these
were agreed in Min (AF) in Mar 88. In essence these involved a change from
conventional limited War (LW) to resist Chinese aggression, to a more
realistic future role of being prepared to respond as appropriate to any
ROW 113 (HONG)
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