TOP SECRET
D.C.(49)
TH APRIL. 1949
Pafir bytte Memester of Defen
50
DRAFT -
CABINET
DEFENCE COMMITTEE
REINFORCEMENT OF HONG KONG
Memorandum by Minister of Defence
present
I wish to consult my colleagues about our future
policy for Hong Kong in the light of recent developments in
China.
2.
The British Defence Co-ordination Committee, Far
East, have recently reported to the Chiefs of Staff on the
various threats that might arise to our interests in Hong
Kong as a result of Communist successes in China.
thought these threats were threefold:-
3.
They
(a) internal unrest, probably sponsored by Communist-
inspired trade unions;
(b) a large scale influx of refugees in numbers beyond
the capacity of the Colony to absorb;
(c) external aggression by guerilla bands, probably
Communist-inspired.
They reported that. to deal with all these threats
if they arose simultaneously,`the present garrison of Hong
Kong
Jad
consisting of 3 battalions
-
- would have to be
reinforced by a brigade group. Although they had made plans
for reinforcing Hong Kong by one battalion from Malaya in
emergency, any other reinforcements would have to come from
other than Far East resources.
4.
with
The Chiefs of Staff agreed that this assessment
and, had the troops been available, would have recommended
the immediate reinforcement of the Far East some two
-1-