JULY 3. 11
27
FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
HONGKONG AFFAIRS
On Guard!
"HE vacillations and uncertainties of
THE
British government policy-making were on view last week ECGD (Export Credits Guarantee Department) officials turned up at the cocktail party to
launch the cross-harbour tunnel and toast the success of a ! venture which their negotiators had been less than sure about until the eleventh hour, Then Defence Minister Denis. Healey,' .who flew in after five-power defence talks in Canberra, announced he was not here to talk about the only issue which seemed to justify a visit from a British Defence Minister the question of troop costs for the Hongkong garrison after, 1971. Perhaps Healey caught the,,mood of the present Wilson Cabinet best when he told the press that it was not going to be him who would negotiate on troop costs "thank God".
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Healey's attitude seems odd in view, of the British government's apparently whiter-than-white intentions of reinforce
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Malaysia must also have reminded the British Government that there are sub- stantial investments in this region which require protection. In Hongkong, the
ing Hongkong when troops from Singa- pore will no longer be able to come to the Colony's aid in an emergency. Can hall over talking with the colonial autho-Defence Minister went so far as to state: there really be such trepidation in White- rities about the price of supporting merely an extra battalion just 700 men after 1971? Or is it that the Labour: Government is developing a conscience about the practicability of its defence: drawal strategy after the East of Suez with-
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Repeated statements from London have assured Hongkong that the troops stationed here, for which local taxpayers are paying $80 million a year already, after 1971. Crises elsewhere can be dealt will not be deployed elsewhere in Asia with by Britain's strategic reserve, it has been stated, who need a mere 24 hours' notice to establish their presence in Asia. But Mr Healey's statements made after the Canberra talks do not seem to carry quite the same conviction and have al- ready prompted Conservative politicians to ask whether the Government was not reversing its policy. The racial riots in
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"It is even possible to imagine a situation in which Britain might play a larger role [in Asia after 1971].”
Clearly, Hongkong has no wish to be- come a forward reinforcement base on the Singapore pattern if it is the Colony's taxpayers who have to bear a high pro- portion of the costs to maintain troop strengths above the level needed locally. When the question of paying for our de- fence costs is raised with London next year (whoever is at the negotiating table), the Colony's authorities must make sure they know exactly what Hongkong is being asked to pay for. Nor can there be any question of moral obligation on Hongkong's part to pay the costs of extra troops over and above the level needed for the Colony's own security needs after the British Government let down over paying for an extension to Kai Tak airport.
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OMBUDSMAN: The question of an Ombudsman for the Colony has been sparsely referred to in public debate. The Review reveals details of a confidential report prepared by the Hongkong Branch of Justice and the fierce behind-the-scenes controversy it has provoked.
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Any Complaints?
By L. F. Goodstadt
WHO
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HO in Hongkong could possibly oppose the creation of a "Commissioner to Comfort and Protect the People"? As far as the public is concerned, the answer is practically everybody who counts, including the Governor, .9.6
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Honourable” Members of Executive and Legislative Councils and a fair number of senior officials. Their reluctance to permit the establishment of a Commissioner with such worthy functions is perhaps easy to understand. The man
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RECEIVED IN RIGISTRY No.51 22 AUG 1969
Page 105Page 106
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