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not be able to hold out for very long then we should have to
concentrate all our endeavours on mounting a "crash" operation to
rfect the evacuation of as many vulnerable and sensitive persons
Is we could manage. At that stage we could seek American and/or
Australian co-operation and mobilise transport in conjunction with
airlines and shipping companies. Such an operation would have to
be hastily improvised but in the circumstances in which it
would be mounted there would be few (if any) inhibitions about
making overtly the most effective arrangements we could.
6.7. The question also arises what we should say publicly on this
issue. We have already been asked (in debates in the House of
Commons) whether we have plans for the evacuation of Hong Kong.
So far we have been able to avoid any direct answer.
But we may
X
well be pressed to give one, The dilemma is that if we say there
are no plans, this could lead to a public outcry here in the
United Kingdom; while, if we said that plans were being prepared,
confidence in Hong Kong would be shattered.
7.8_We could perhaps continue to try to avoid giving a direct
answer to this question by taking the following lines:-
Z
(a) We could say that we do not disclose such matters (as
Lord Beswick did in the debate in the House of Lords on
June 22nd).
(b) We could stand on our public statements about our intention
to maintain the authority of the Hong Kong Government and to
fulfil our responsibilities and obligations to the Colony.
(c) We could infer that the evacuation of Hong Kong was
impracticable, pointing to the fact that there are some 2
million citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in
Hong Kong to whom our responsibilities extend just as much
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