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ANNEX D TO NOTE NO. 6
VISIT OF
DEPUTY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE
(SIR LESLIE MONSON)
то HONG KONG OCTOBER. 1969
DEFENCE
CONTRIBUTION
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By March, 1971 the defence contribution agreement has to be renegotiated, having regard to the new force levels Ministers
have approved for the Hong Kong garrison after our withdrawal from Singapore/Malaysia in 1971. For political reasons the Governor thinks it necessary to avoid being faced with a "demand"
from H.M.G. for a higher contribution and has suggested
exchanges at official level with a view to arriving at some measure of agreement on an "offer" from the Colony. We have agreed to this and in our letter of the 9th October (copy attached) have provided him with facts and figures on which to
base consideration of his offer. This is only the first round in what may well be protracted exchanges at official level.
2. There will have been little time for our letter to have
been studied in Hong Kong. But preliminary reactions may be expressed, and these can be expected to reject the possibility that Hong Kong could contribute the full budgetary cost of forces for internal security (i.e. £10 11 million per annum plus an element of the cost of capital works). £89 million p.a. is thought to be the maximum figure that the Governor's official advisers will consider politically possible.
If past
negotiations are any guide the reduced figure will be supported by the arguments that the major threat to internal security is the same as the external threat and that external defence is an imperial responsibility. Nevertheless the fact remains that the doctrine has long been that, regardless of the source of the threat, Colonies contribute to their own defence and security according to their capacity to pay. It will probably be argued also that increases in the contribution must be at the expense of much needed expansion of social services, with attendant political difficulties of presentation in Hong
/Kong.
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