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their dependants.. We ought to try to get them out and find somewhere to which
Cam
for they to go to
14.
We have therefore considered the alternative of a Macao-type of situation,
the essence of which is that effective control would be given up to the
Chinese communists. What this would mean in practice is outlined in the
immediate Annex. Such a situation would have the advantage of limite bloodshed and
12. Folony
might perhaps make it easier eventually to surrender four lease of the New
in an orderly fashion. In practice, however, it would provide
Territories in
no guarantee against future bloodshed, and would place us in a weaker
position when it came to negotiating any eventual settlement.
We should
suffer humiliation as great as that involved in withdrawal, and we should
continue to suffer it without any prospect of termination. Our people in
Hong Kong would be the hostages of the Chinese communists and could be used
to extract concessions from us. This situation would be an ideal one from
Peking's point of view, since it would enable them to control Hong Kong,
1
both politically and economically, while not sacrificing the benefits obtained
from the Colony. We have also considered whether concessions to Peking or
the local communists short of a Macao-type surrender would be a reasonable
alternative to withdrawal; but it must be recognised that once we began go
make substantial concessions, we should be inexorably on the road towards
complete surrender to Chinese control, since the Chinese would recognise
[Furt
our weakmess and exploit it fully. Furthermore, in so far as the communist
pressure has its origins locally rather than in Peking, strong measures in
-5-
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