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of Staff do not endorse these views.)
A political case resting on:
Redacted Under FOI Exemption Sec 27(1)
(b) the Governor's assessment, made in the aftermath
of the events of June 1989, that the Hong Kong community needed some reassurance from the continuing presence of
the Royal Navy Patrol Craft as a visible sign of British
sovereignty;
(c) the strategic consideration: if the patrol
vessels were to be withdrawn it would be seen in Peking
and Hong Kong as a clear signal of a diminution of our
commitment. (eg the Falklands precedent, with the
withdrawal of HMS Endurance in 1981).
(d) Hong Kong's contribution of £15.5 million towards
HMG's Gulf costs was passed by the Finance Committee
only after acrimonious debate. For HKG to have to
seek new funds for retaining the vessels shortly
after that debate would dramatically raise the
temperature: which was already high over the Defence
Costs Agreement (DCA) negotiations in 1988.
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