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2
5. In addition to support given by the Armed Forces reinforcements of the forces of authority will be available from the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Gorps when it is reconstituted. Such assistance will be particularly valuable because of the local knowledge which members of the Corps would have and in the event of a defection of a large part of the Police Force, support from the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps would possibly for this reason be found more valuable than support from the regular garrison,
6. The Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps has not as yet been reconstituted. Its future was the subject of a despatch written by my predecessor on 23rd April, 1947, to which a reply has just been received. terms of the reply are not, I regret, wholly acceptable to this Government and the Commandant, Colonel Ride, who is at present in England, has been instructed to take up a number of questions direct with the Colonial Office. The importance of getting the Corps on its feet again without delay cannot be over-stressed.
7.
The
The state of the Police Force has steadily improved during the past three years, both with regard to efficiency and with regard to the morale and equipment of the Force. The Services for some time discharged Police duties in the New Territories, but on 1st March, 1947, the Police Force resumed all Police commitments. Reference is made in an earlier paragraph to the lack of certainty regarding the loyalty of the entire Police Force. Subject to this limitation the Police Force is considered to be in a state of efficiency adequate to enable it to perform its role in all branches of its work. The Special Branch maintains liaison with Malaya, and new links have recently been forged with authorities in surrounding territories whose problems are similar to those of Hong Kong.
8. The state of the Armed Forces is for the present less satisfactory than I, or the members of my Defence Committee, could wish. The military garrison has recently been depleted by the removal for the purpose of re- inforcing Malaya of the 1st Battalion the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The remaining troops comprise the 25th Field Regiment, the 2nd Battalion the Buffs and the 2nd/10th Gurkhas. I am advised by the General Officer Commanding that the infantry battalions are generally trained up to the standard of Company training but not as yet to battalion training, and that of the Field Regiment only one battery is fully trained. He hopes to have this situation considerably improved by the turn of the year, but in the meantime it cannot be denied that the assistance which could be offered in an emergency by the Army is not as great as might be hoped for. The Royal Navy will be fully committed in maintaining its own internal security and the Royal Air Force is in similar case. This condition is, I trust, only a temporary one and by the end of the year it should be possible to regard the situation moréfavourably.
9. For the time being it would appear that there is no immediate menace to Hong Kong and in the circumstances and having regard to the improvement in resources which I am led to expect by the end of the year I am of the opinion that without any special additions the Police Force is capable of handling the internal security problem with such assistance as may be forthcoming from the Armed Forces. It must, however, never be forgotten that the situation in Hong Kong can change almost overnight and that as soon as either the Communists or the Kuomintang are sufficiently interested to create trouble within the Colony the internal security problem in its most acute form will arise again. In this connection I would invite attention to paragraph 12 (4) of the appreciation to which reference is made in paragraph 3 above. Should such a situation occur within the next few months I trust that I shall be given such assistance from Malaya as may be necessary to bring the situation again under Police Control.
10./