the Communist hold is not sufficiently serious to cause grave
anxiety. The BRITISH BORNEO TERRITORIES do not present any immediate problems, and JAPAN, while controlled by the United
States, need not enter into our Military calculations.
PHILIPPINES I also place in the latter category.
8. HONG KONG
The
There is far more to the Hong Kong problem than the simple question of its defence alone. Whatever is to be the long term solution in regards to the future of the Colony we cannot afford
to be kicked out of the place by force. Such a disaster must inevitably have incalculable repercussions on our position, and indeed on all European interests, throughout the Far East. as a short term issue at least, we must maintain our position
there.
2 The defence problem is twofold.
attack from without.
Thus,
Disruption from within, and
3 The test is, therefore, I should say, can we adequately control the dangers of disruption from within while we still leave ourselves with sufficient strength in hand successfully to see off external attack? I do not say that the external form of attack will ever come, but we must have sufficient force at Hong Kong, deployed on the ground, to make it abundantly clear to all
That anyone who that we are determined to see off all comers.
chances his arm in an all out attack will be faced with an all out defence. Should this be clear then I must doubt the external
attack ever materialising.
In the first place I doubt whether
the chances of success would be sufficient and, in the second, who can foresee the limits of the repercussions from such action, which might well plunge the whole World into another war.
Till recently the danger was that, with the arrival of the
/Chine se
Page 20Page 21