UK EYES ONLY
TOP SECRET
Draft)
ANNEX A to DP 9/68(C) (Directors (Continued)
Peking would therefore try to ensure that such a
campaign was regulated so as to avoid the disadvantages
attendant on serious economic decline or collapse.
f.
A policy of moderation could quickly be reversed,
particularly if the Culteral Revolution flared up
again with a resurgence of extremism, although at
present this seems unlikely. But if it did, it could
The
create a heightened danger of direct action against Hong
Kong either deliberately, or by miscalculation.
danger of action by the Chinese aimed at taking over
Hong Kong may increase as the economic importance of Hong
Kong to China declined.
g. One factor Peking will have in mind is that any
British decision to reduce the size of the garrison,
coupled with the accelerated withdrawal of the British
military presence from the Far East, could in due course
have an acute effect on local and in particular police
morale, and thus on the position of the Hong Kong Government.
PRESENT FORCE LEVELS AND CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
Royal Navy
5.
The present forces to meet current tasks are:
a. One frigate, reinforced by an additional frigate
from the Far East Command in times of tension, to give
added support to maritime police patrols and to act as
a deterrent to Chinese Communist Navy interference and
local piracy. This ship also constitutes the United
Kingdom naval contribution to the United Nations Command
in South Korea.
b. Two mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels, on rotation
from Singapore, reinforced by two additional vessels in
times of tension for direct support of maritime police
A - 3
TOP SECRET
UK EYES ONLY
855286
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.