SECRET
FM HONG KONG
SECRET
HKC 062/ 1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
31J AN 1990
Rog
Pa.
19/1
033336
MDLIAN 1705
TO PRIORITY FCO
DESK OFFICER
REGISTRY
TELNO 254
INDEX
PA
Action Taken
OF 19113OZ JANUART 90
FOR STONE HKD, FCO: YOUR TELELETTER OF 17 JANUARY 1990: ROYAL NAVY PRESENCE AFLOAT
1. THE OPERATIONAL CASE FOR RETAINING AN RN PRESENCE AFLOAT IN HONG
KONG TURNS TO SOME EXTENT ON THE LEVEL OF MARPOL RESOLVE, HOW THAT RESOLVE IS DEMONSTRATED AND HOW PERCEIVED BY THE PLA NAVY AND OTHER PRC UNITS OPERATING IN HONG KONG WATERS. WHILST MARPOL SHOULD
IN THEORY BE ABLE TO CATER FOR THE INSTANCES QUOTED IN PARA. 2 OF YOUR TELELETTER, WE ARE CONCERNED THAT MARPOL RESOLVE COULD EASILY WEAKEN IN THE FACE OF OVERTLY AGGRESSIVE CHINESE BEHAVIOUR, OR WHERE MARPOL WAS REQUIRED TO TAKE A ROBUST APPROACH AGAINST
PERCEIVED PRC INTERESTS.
2. SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES AS ABOVE ARE NOT (NOT) THEORETICAL. THUS, ON 16 JANUARY 1990 A CHINESE PATROL VESSEL (CPV) WAS SEEN ABOUT FIVE KILOMETRES INSIDE HK WATERS NEAR CHEUNG CHAU. THREE UNIFORMED MEN, AT LEAST ONE OF THEM ARMED, WERE SEEN TO BOARD A HK REGISTERED
FISHING VESSEL. BOTH THE CPV AND THE FISHING VESSEL THEN LEFT HK
WATERS WITH THE THREE CHINESE OFFICERS STILL ABOARD THE FISHING
VESSEL. THE CPV IGNORED INSTRUCTIONS FROM MARPOL TO STOP. WE HAVE
TAKEN UP THIS CASE WITH THE NCNA.
3. THE ABOVE INCIDENT IS NOT (NOT) UNUSUAL AND IS ONE OF A SERIES
OF BLATANT INCURSIONS INTO HONG KONG WATERS. A WORRYING FEATURE OF
SUCH INCURSIONS IS THE OPEN DISPLAY OF CONTEMPT FOR MARPOL VESSELS AND PERSONNEL. ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE DISPLAY AND USE BY CPVS OF WEAPONS, AND THE WIDER DEPLOYMENT IN HONG KONG WATERS OF PROVINCIAL (RATHER THAN MORE LOCALLY BASED) CPVS. HOWEVER, IN THE CASE OF RN VESSELS, CPVS HAVE ADOPTED A MUCH MORE RESTRAINED AND SIGNIFICANTLY LESS CONFRONTATIONAL APPROACH.
4. AS REGARDS THE QUERY IN PARA 3 OF YOUR TELELETTER, THE CONTENTS OF OUR PAPER REFLECT ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH HQBF: PARA 7 OF THAT PAPER IS ENDORSED BY HQBF. ALTHOUGH OUR FORMAL OVERALL THREAT ASSESSMENT HAS NOT CHANGED, NEVERTHELESS, AS NOTED IN PARA 7 ABOVE, SEA INCURSIONS NOW SEEM MORE LIKELY AND POTENTIALLY MORE
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