time being.
My own feeling is that we shall get some warning of a deterioration in the situation which is . likely to force a withdrawal from Hong Kong on us.
would be at that stage that we should get in touch
with the Americans and possibly the Australians and
work out a crash operation. We would of course also have to bring in the airlines and the shipping companies to ensure that we could concentrate as many aircraft and ships as possible to bring out as
many people as we could. This in fact is the recommendation made in paragraph 5 of the paper.
It
As confidence is the key to the situation in Hong
Kong and any suggestion that evacuation plans were being prepared would undermine this confidence, strongly recommend the course in paragraph 6 of Mr. Carter's minute, i.e. that any enquiries about
evacuation planning for Hong Kong should be met with a
flat denial. The truth is that we do remain
responsible for some 2 million citizens of the U.K. and Colonies in Hong Kong and that we have no intention
of withdrawing from Hong Kong unless we are forced to
do so, and in those circumstances it will be clear to the world that we are being forced out against our
will and that we should then of course do the best we
can to bring out those who want to come.
NPH.
(H.P. Hall)
8 November, 1967
Mr. Carter
I have made a few suggested amendments to the
draft DOPC paper which I would like you to look at
with Mr. Hall, when he is back tomorrow. But I have two additional points
(a)
—
Might we not expand paragraph 5, as amended,
a bit on the lines of the penultimate paragraph of Mr. Hall's minute above?
(b)
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.