for which we are responsible
The House will know that His Majesty's Government .... decided to reinforce the garrison in Hong Kong in view of the uncertain position in China and our responsibility for Hong Kong and the welfare of its people.
a
The Minister also said in the House that he had "indicated" that the above was His Majesty's Government's policy when he was in Hong Kong. There is nothing to add to the statement, and the more local publicity it gets the better.
There is the further point that since our whole line should be that our defence measures are precautionary with the implication that we do not anticipate any challenge to our lawful position, the Governor should deny, as News Department here have done, stories to the effect that His Majesty's Government has made an approach to the United States of America for assistance in the defence of Hong Kong. Equally it is undesirable, now that the Communists have reached the borders of the New Territories, to emphasize the deployment of our own forces in the way certain elements of the press have been doing.
Finally, the value of Hong Kong from the economic and trading point of view to Communist China itself has been a point that we know has weighed heavily in Chinese Communist calculations.
It is
as a trading centre whose activities benefit all the countries of Asia, and not as an outpost of civilisation against the rising tide of Communism
/that
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