12.0.
(amendment)
Wing Commander Foster agreed that this was so, especially
in the first phases of a war. Without the New
Territories, of course, the Air Force would be unable to
operate as there is no suitable land for an aerodrome
on the Island itself.
Mr. Cowell said that he understood then that,
whatever the effect of the recent decisions on defence
which were of a temporary nature the Service Departments
regarded the retention of the New Territories as
important and even essential. At the same time he
gathered that their plans would not, for many years to
come, be affected by uncertainty as to the renewal of
the lease in 1997. Mr. Compton agreed as to the importance
of the New Territories but suggested that our present
tenure was satisfactory from a defence point of view,
as it was impossible to plan now about a situation 60
years hence. The representatives of the Service
Departments agreed that, from their point of view,
the present tenure was satisfactory.
Mr. Cowell asked whether the Foreign Office
thought that the present was a favourable opportunity for
negotiating with the Chinese Government for a renewal of
the lease. Sir John Brenan replied that, on the whole,
they would regard the present as comparatively favourable.
There was a possibility that the present conflict would
end in a stalemate, and, once the Japanese menace had been
removed, there will be no inducement for the Chinese
Government to extend the lease. There was, of course, the
possibility that the conflict would end with the
establishment of a Japanese puppet Government in South
the buffet you-set wh by
China, and Japan had already stated that they would refuse
4.
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