f
00246
(c) Air Force
It is estimated that, at present, China has available 400 first line aircraft to which total are being ́added approximately 400 Jepanese and at least 300 modern American plшes. Severe limitations would be imposed on their operational use by poor servicing, once American supervision is withdrawn. It is considered that, under these conditions, air support for military operations could not be sustained but would be limited to sporadic ralls. The Langer of mining by aircraft is considered amall.
POLITICAL ACTORS
5. The declared policy or the Central Government is to recover Hong Kong by diplomatic means. This policy has been maintained since Japen's surrenter, and was reaffirmed by Chiang Kai-shek in a speech on 24th August, 1945. Past experience and present indientions suggest, however, that the Chinese will not confine themselves to purely diplomatic means ir bringing pressure to bear for the recovery of Hong Kong. For example, a propaganda campaign to recover the colony for China has already been experienced in a milà form, and has recently been reinforced by a press agitation erising out of the displacement of Chinese from the site of a new airfield in the New Territories. It is considered that the campaign will be maintained and intensified by the Central Government as a natural prelude and adjunct to pressure by diplomatic means for the recovery of the Colony. This pressure is likely to be directed in the first place against the New Territories, a formal claim for whose retrocession is to be expected in the ncar future.
POSSIBLE FORMS OF ATTACK.
6.
(A) Direct assault by land on the Frontier
of the New Territories.
(B) Ineffective air raids on Port or Military installations, which may, however, have some effect on civilian morale.
(c) Individual raids by pirates for personal
gain.
(I) Sporadic Guerilla attacks as the result
of internal unrest or civil war in China.
(E) Infiltration of large numbers of agents
into the Chinese population to organice strikes, civil unrest and boycott.
(F) Interruption of food and other supplies
to the Colony from China, to lend weight to the political compaign for recovery of Hong Kong.
-6-
Ref.:
CO 537/1260
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
N
restrictions. Further information is given in the enclosed Terms and Conditions of supply of National Archives' Please note that this copy is supplied subject to the National Archives' terms and conditions and that your use of i may be subject to copyrigh
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Page 295Page 296
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