2600027
C.S. 20 A
From the Governor, Hong Kong
To the Secretary of State for the Colonies
Repeated to:-
Repeated to:-
SAVING RAM
.i.
SECRET
No.
No.
No.
My Reference......
hns
5.
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
3
Your Reference....
to Hong Kong at short notice. We are examining the volume of cold storage accommodation which would be available for the storage of such supplies, but if we were totally dependent on frozen supplies it would be unlikely to be sufficient and we might be forced to depend on cold storage vessels to provide supplementary storage capacity.
Similar planning to airfreight essential supplies to Hong Kong if the position seriously deteriorated, The cost of this would be likely to be very high but recourse to it cannot be ruled out. I will raise this matter separately with you when I have completed the examination of alternative sources.
The emergency shipment of food from the United Kingdom (e.g. tinned or frozen meat). We are not certain whether a reserve stock of this kind of foodstuff is maintained in Britain and if so whether amounts could be diverted to Hong Kong.
Financial support might be needed if the supply situation deteriorated and it became necessary to adopt special arrangements to import food for any length of time. It is not possible at this stage to assess the amounts involved.
Assistance in obtaining the services of certain experts. Whilst it is not possible to be certain at this stage it may for instance be necessary to seek the services of an expert on food rationing and on food supply to help draw up a new rationing scheme and to assist with the solution of our future food supply problem.
These are all the suggestions which immediately occur to us and we would be grateful for your views. There may well be other measures which the United Kingdom Government could encourage in order to impose political and economic pressure on China if she persists in harrassing Hong Kong: viz. the stoppage of all contracted shipments to China from Commonwealth countries, including particularly shipments of wheat from Canada and Australia, some of which might be diverted to Hong Kong, the stoppage of United Kingdom sales of computers and com- ponents for fertiliser plants, and a temporary hold up of purchase of the Chinese goods by British firms. (My telegram No. 790 of 7th June).
SECRET
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