A
CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: Simon Gass
DATE: 18 October 1991
S Webb Esq
PS/Secretary of State for Defence
FUTURE RN PRESENCE IN HONG KONG
1. Thank you for copying to me your letter of 29 July to Stephen Wall. I am now able to let you know formally the outcome of our discussions with the Hong Kong Government about whether they could secure additional funds to help you meet the cost of retaining the three patrol craft in Hong
Kong.
2.
At our
strong urging,
As we wished Hong Kong have looked very hard at this. Regrettably they have been unable to identify any legitimate way of finding money without going to the Finance Committee
of the Legislative Council. We cannot contemplate trying to
pull the wool over the eyes of the Legislative Council.
LegCo has very detailed scrutiny of HKG spending.
example HKG cannot create a new post at or above the
equivalent of DS5/Principal without the specific approval of
Sub the Establishment Committee of the Finance Committee.
^
For
3.
It is the firm view of the Governor, which we share,
that an approach to the Finance Committee would not produce
any new funds and would rebound very badly indeed. This view has been reinforced by the success of the United
Democrats of Hong Kong (led by Mr Martin Lee QC) in the recent first direct elections to LegCo. "Liberals" now hold
NOCACD/1
CONFIDENTIAL