TNAG-0180-FCO40-216-Planning-for-emergency-evacuation-1969 — Page 16

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EVACUATION: HONG KONG

(Hong Kong Department Submission of 25 September)

Speaking Notes for Meeting with Mr. Harper, MP. or other members of Parliamentary group who visited

Hong Kong

1. I understand that there was some discussion with the Governor

in Hong Kong about the absence of plans for the evacuation of British

nationals from Hong Kong and the reasons for this. I would like to

emphasise the delicacy of this issue in Hong Kong and to underline

what the Governor has said to you about the disastrous effect on

confidence in the Colony if anything was said or done which indicated

or implied that we might be contemplating withdrawal from our position

there.

2. It is primarily for this reason that we have decided it is not

possible to prepare any worthwhile plans for evacuation. The risks

we would run by making detailed local arrangements are too great;

knowledge of the existence of plans would be widespread and leakage

would be unavoidable. Outline plans not matched by detailed

arrangements on the ground would be valueless in an emergency.

3. In any case if (as is likely to be the case) the Chinese decided

to prevent an evacuation any detailed plans we might have would be

equally useless. We would have neither the time nor the military

cover to carry out plans for the evacuation of 26,000 non-Chinese

including some 12,000 British and Commonwealth citizens, much less the

two million or so British citizens of Chinese race (even if somewhere

could be found for the latter to go. An evacuation could only be

successfully carried out if the Chinese decided for their own reasons

that it would suit them to let us remove non-Chinese from the Colony;

we might then possibly be given sufficient time and freedom from

interference to mount an extempore operation.

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14.