At the same time he
fathered
that then plans would not, for many years to come be affected by uncertainty as the renewal of
A
the lease in 1997.
Without the New Fonce
Wing Commander Foster agreed that this was so, especially
in the first phases of a war.
Territories, of course, the Air would be unable to
operate as there is no suitable land for an aerodrome
on the Island itself.
Mr. Cowell said that he understood then that, whatever the effect of the
in view of the temporary nature of recent decisions on
which were of a temporary nahine
Detention
Mr.
defence the Service Departments regarded the interese
of the New Territories as important and even essential
Compton agreed as to the importance but suggested
that our present tenure was satisfactory from a defence
point of view, as it was impossible to plan now about a
The representatives of the
Service Departments agreed that, from their point of view,
the present tenure was satisfactory.
situation 60 years hence.
Mr. Cowell asked whether the Foreign Office
thought that the present was a favourable opportunity for
negotiating with the Chinese Government for a renewal of
the lease. Sir John Brenan replied that, on the whole,
they would regard the present as comparatively favourable.
There was a possibility that the present conflict would
end in a stalemate, and, once the Japanese menace had been
removed, there will be no inducement for the Chinese
Government to extend the lease. There was, of course, the
possibility that the conflict would end with the
establishment of a Japanese puppet Government in South
China, and Japan had already stated that they would refuse
to recognise agreements entered into with the present
Chinese Government. Even in this case of course we
should