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(111) Nigel Tranch han suggested :-
(a) Putting the Military paragraphs in Section B
rather later on in the Section. I agree.
(b)
In fact, I think the various parts of this
Section might be rearranged in reverse
order (1.0. Political, Economic, Communica-
tions, Intelligence, Military).
1
Rearranging the material in Section B so
that advantages and disadvantages are
separately listed. I am not so sure about
this, but we might consider it. As a
compromise I have gone some way towards this
arrangement in framing conclusions (a) (c)
in Section 0; this might be sufficient.
(c) Mentioning in paragraph 9 of Section E that,
}
in the light of past experience, we do not
see any future in trying to involve the
Americans in the defence of Hong Kong.
We
might insert the following passage between
the second and third sentences of paragraph 9:
"They did not show any disposition ten
years ago to pursue discussions with us
about meeting the Chinese threat to
Hong Kong and we for our part were wary,
foreseeing that any proposal of a formal
American involvement might invite
difficult and dangerous American
demands for military facilities in
Hong Kong which we would find it hard
to resist if they were put forward as
facilities necessary for the proper
discharge of responsibilities they had
assumed towards the Colony. These
objections are valid today."
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