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Hong Kong might be feasible. The Planners would also have to assume that we would be prepared to take the political risk of building defence works which would unmistakably betray to the Chinese our determination to defend Hong Kong with nuclear weapons.
6.
This, as I say, is only our first guess at the answer, but I think it is a fairly sound one. We should be able to confirm it reasonably soon since the Planners (who have recently learnt unofficially that the chances of getting the necessary funds to provide for the defence of Hong Kong are virtually nil) are naturally reluctant to embark on a full-scale study of the defence of Hong Kong if the whole idea is a non-starter. They are therefore drafting a very short paper on the lines of paragraph 5 above, but adding a recommendation that since the money will almost certainly not be forthcoming no further study should be made of the problem. We expect the B.D.C.C. (F.E.) to consider this paper some time within the next few weeks.
7.
I am sending a copy of this letter to de la Mare in Washington.
(A.M. MacKintosh)
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