CONFIDENTIAL
Redacted under FOI exemption section 27(1).
territory with a consequent effect on confidence.
Remsches
that
The Chinese nevertheless may consider our
withdrawal
is an attempt
and reopen the whole Defence Costs Agreement Controversy,
under which
It pays 65% of the
costs of the
garrison.
to undermine the rationale for their own naval
presence after 1997.
1
20.
The issue of the withdrawal of the patrol
craft remains deadlocked between the FCO, MOD and
the Hong Kong Government.
alternati ke
The Governor considers
that the MOD's proposal that Hong Kong meet a much
higher share of the operating costs would create a
damaging political row in Hong Kong Nor, in his
View, would the idea of the HKG buying out the
MOD's capital interest in the craft and operating and
practical grounds
them themselves, be workable,
21. A similar impasse has been reached over the
MOD's proposed disposal of HMS Endurance from the
HMS British Antarctic Territory (Serial 1).
калия
Endurance has a symbolic and practical issue.
Symbolic, in that it is perceived by the
Argentines, Falkland Islanders and other countries
as the embodiment of HMG's commitment to our
dependent territories in the South Atlantic.
Practical, in that HMS Endurance and its
helicopters play a unique role in support of the
British Antarctic surveys research activities in
the British Antarctic Territory, and in carrying
out hydrographic surveys in the South Atlantic.