TNAG-0059-FCO40-95-Strength-of-Hong-Kong-garrison-1968 — Page 117

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MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

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CONFIDENTIAL ANNEX

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COS 67TH MEETING/67, HELD ON TUESDAY

12TH SEPTEMBER 1967 AT 2.45 pm

HONG KONG

Previous Reference: COS 60th Meeting/67, Minute 2

SIR JAMES CASSELS (Acting Chief of the Defence Staff) said that on 29th June 1967 the Garrison in Hong Kong had been reinforced to a level of 7 2/3 major units, the strength to which it hañ on occasions in the past been brought for the October celebrations. The Commander-in-Chief, Far East, had recently confirmed (1) that he did not intend further reinforcement to cover the period of the "double tenth", unless the situation deteriorated further; he considered it to be unnecessary and would result in many complications in Hong Kong. They would invite the Assistant Under-Secretary (Policy) to give the political background.

MR COOPER (Assistant Under-Secretary (Policy)) said that at the meeting of the Defence and Oversea Policy Committee on 5th September (2) the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State, Commonwealth Office, had been invited to keep the situation in Hong Kong under close review and to consider action to maintain order in Hong Kong, including the reinforcement of the Garrison during the "double tenth" period. The tone of this meeting and that of a meeting at the Cabinet Office the following day had been that further reinforcement was desirable. The political reasons were, first, that it would be better to send such reinforcement before, rather than after, any trouble; secondly, that Ministers are anxious not to give any impression of failing to do what was necessary in Hong Kong; and thirdly, to demonstrate our intentions to Peking. However, the position was not prejudiced and had been left open.

In discussion, the following points were made:

2.

The Committee entirely agreed with the intentions of the Commander-in-Chief, Far East, not to reinforce Hong Kong at the present time. Should reinforcement become necessary, the requisite plans had been made and could be carried out at short notice. Furthermore, the Commander-in-Chief would be in Hong Kong at the beginning of October. Both the Foreign Office and

Notes:

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2.

SEACOS 141.

OPD (67)29th Macting, Item 3.

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