(97793)
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HONG KONG
The Working Party had before them a note by the Commonwealth Office (C 165/5) covering copies of departmental minutes on the subject of a study of our position in Hong Kong; also before the Working Party was a draft outline for a report, also prepared in the Commonwealth Office.
THE CHAIRMAN said that in the course of a Ministerial discussion of the current situation in Hong Kong it had been pointed out that we could not rely on remaining in Hong Kong on present terms until our lease of the New Territories lapsed, and should therefore consider what adaptations of the status of Hong Kong might be possible and desirable after the conclusion of the present conflict in Vietnam, and also what steps would be necessary if we were forced to evacuate the colony. Accordingly officials had been instructed to consider our policy in respect of Hong Kong in the long term. The Ministerial directive left officials with considerable discretion as to the range of the study to be carried out. It would be possible to confine the study to the likelihood of our being forced out of Hong Kong and the Alternatively scope for contingency planning to meet this possibility. there might be advantage in a wider study of the value of Hong Kong to this country in present circumstances, the military implications of our involvement there and the outlook as we drew nearer to the ending of the
lease of the New Territories in 1997.
Discussion showed that the Working Party were in favour of a wide ranging study of the long-term prospects for Hong Kong. Additionally it was pointed out that in present circumstances the situation could deteriorate suddenly, and we should therefore prepare as quickly as possible evacuation plans to deal with a deterioration should it arise. Accordingly, the Working Party should prepare first an interim report on the prospects for withdrawal if it were suddenly forced upon us, some of the material for which already existed in the minutes circulated by the Commonwealth Office; there should follow the wider appreciation of the position of Hong Kong
proposed by the Chairman.
Interim Report
The Working Party next discussed what should be the contents of an interim report on withdrawal if suddenly forced upon us. It was agreed that this report, after an explanatory introduction, should make an assessment of the likelihood of Chinese pressure being increased to the point of forcing a withdrawal. The report should consider the means (short
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