SECRET
Hong Kong Department,
DP 4/393/1
27 August, 1969
40
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(29
We have received from the Ministry of Defence a copy of their record of the discussions which you had with the Defence Secretary on 25 June and I now enclose a copy for your information. The
subject matter of this letter is, however, confined to the issue of a fighter presence in Hong Kong.
We understand that in the course of the discussions you made it clear to the Defence Secretary that you were quite unwilling to contemplate any capital payment by Hong Kong for purchasing the Hunter aircraft; and that you also emphasised the difficulties which you would see even in raising this matter (or the matter of the recurrent costs of operating a fighter unit) with your Executive Council, in advance of the negoti.tions on the Colony's defence contribution for the period beyond April 1971.
On the other hand you indicated that, as an alternative to the stationing of a fighter unit in Hong Kong, it might be possible for
your requirements to be met if arrangements could be made for visits
to the Colony by some of the RAF aircraft which would, on present plans, be in the Far East in any event in the post-1971 era on training detachments, I should perhaps mention here that we had raised this particular aspect with the Ministry of Defence before the Defence Secretary visited Hong Kong, but no details were then
available.
This alternative has now been examined by the Ministry of Defence. They have informed us that visits by RAF aircraft, in conjunction with the post-1971 training programme already planned for the Far East, could be made to Hong Kong by Phantoms, Buccaneers, V-Bombers, Nimrods and Canberras to an extent which would mean that RAF aircraft would be in the Colony for an aggregate total of twenty days a year. This is the most which could be managed without detriment to the RAP training programme (the RAF have no requirement, themselves, for these visits). The period of twenty days is, I
His Excellency
Sir David Trench, GCMG., MC.
SECRET
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