Background
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A
B
References:
A:
FCO telno 1756 of 25 September 1990
B:
C:
1.
Hong Kong telno 2864 of 26 September 1990
Details of contributions as at
15 January 1991
Lord Caithness raised the possibility of a contribution
from Hong Kong to the Gulf effort very informally with the
Governor in September. Mr McLaren subsequently sent a
telegram (FCO telno 1756) seeking the Governor's personal
views on how how a request for a contribution, eg to states affected by sanctions against Iraq, might be received. The
Governor's advice (Hong Kong telno 2864) was that the issue
would be very difficult to handle in Hong Kong. The
decision of the Hong Kong Government to contribute to the
Falkland's Fund in 1982 had been highly controversial; the
bitterness over the funding of the Defence Costs Agreement
would be revived; and Hong Kong's major contribution towards
the maintainence of the Vietnamese boat people would be
recalled.
C
2.
The Governor consulted ExCo on 23 October 1990. Their
advice was that the then situation in the Gulf did not offer
an obvious opportunity for Hong Kong to make a contribution;
but that if events change, the position could be reviewed.
They nevertheless expected difficulties with LegCo.
3.
In the new circumstances, the case for a contribution
from Hong Kong is much stronger. Some countries in the
region have given or offered support either in cash or in supplies/back up units notably Taiwan, Korea and Singapore (details attached).
4.
-
The Emergency Unit's strong preference would be for a cash donation in the region of £10 - 15 million. However
there are alternatives. HMG has established a Gulf Trust
Fund to enable contributions to be made to relatives of
SIPANN/2
CVL
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