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SECRET.
I.
NOTE BY THE SECRETARY.
AT the 102nd meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence on the 29th June, 1909, after a discussion on the question of the standard of defences at British defended ports in distant seas, the following conclusions regarding the particular case of Hong Kong were agreed to :—
"(a.) So long as the Anglo-Japanese Alliance remains in force, the British
possessions in the Far East are secure.
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"(b.) Care should be taken sufficiently to reinforce the fleet in the Far East "before the termination of the Alliance in order to neutralise the danger "from a preponderant Japanese fleet in China seas.
"(c.) The Admiralty and War Office should concert measures to ensure that the "local naval and military defences at Hong Kong are on a sufficient scale
to enable the fortress to hold out for a period of one month.”
"
2. These conclusions were referred to the Colonial Defence Committee to consider what measures should be taken to give effect to the conclusion (c).
3. The views of the Colonial Defence Committee are contained in the annexed Memorandum, in which the strategic position of Hong Kong in all reasonably probable eventualities is exhaustively examined.
4. It will be seen that the Committee are of opinion that, in the event of war with Powers other than Japan, attacks on a more formidable scale than those now provided against need not be anticipated; but that, to enable the local defences to hold out for one month against such forms of attack as Japan might bring against Hong Kong, if during that period she possessed the local command of the China seas, the increase of the garrison by 14,000 to 16,000 men, with a proportion of artillery, and some additions to the fixed armament would be necessary.
5. The Colonial Defence Committee do not, however, recommend that any such garrison should be permanently maintained in Hong Kong. They point out that, apart from considerations of the cost and the administrative difficulties, which place serious obstacles in the way of such a measure, there are grave strategic objections to diminishing our power of offensive action by locking up a large force in a remote naval fortress.
On the other hand, for diplomatic and naval reasons, to defer the dispatch of military reinforcements to Hong Kong until hostilities appear to be imminent is not practicable.
6. The Committee are of opinion that the only alternative means by which Hong Kong can be rendered secure against such forms of attack as Japan might bring to bear when the Anglo-Japanese Alliance comes to an end is by the reassertion of our naval supremacy in the China seas.
Phey point out that this viếw accords with conclusion (b) of the Committee of Imperial Defence quoted in the first paragraph of this note, and they submit that if this conclusion is given effect to there will be no need for the local defences of Hong Kong to be capable of holding out for a period of one month, and that therefore no large increase of the garrison would be required.
7. The Colonial Defence Committee have, however, on previous occasions pointed out that the present infantry garrison of Hong Kong, consisting of one British battalion
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