TNAG-0209-FCO40-245-Application-for-expansion-of-aeronautical-telecommunications-1969 — Page 8

Registry No.4 KK 21/12

DEPARTMENT Hong Kong

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret

Secret

Conudencial

Restricted Unclassified

PRIVACY MARKING

In Confidence

PRIORITY MARKINGS

(Date)

Flash

Immediate Priority

Routine

*

Destacked

Date and time (G.M.T.) telegram should

reach addressee(s)

Nov 69. Hdo Nov

22

CYPHER

[Security classification

Secret.

CONFIDENTIAL

.....

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

En Clair.

[

Privacy marking -if any

]

Jode

Cypher

Draft Telegram to:-

Governor,

Hong Kong 138

No.

(Date)

And to:-

10/11

[Codeword-if any]

Addressed to

telegram No......................

And to

GOVERN

OVERNOR, HONG KONG

(date)

Repeat to:-

Saving to:-

Distribution:-

Copies to:-

Jele DinkUT 4/501/1

EXAMINED AT

SIGNATURE...........

repeated for information to

Saving to..........

Proposed Beacon Hill Radar Station.

Your immediate telegram 851.

All the indications are that your application for

a grant from the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund

submit will not succeed but we are proposing to go to Ministers

in week beginning 17" November for a final decision-

You are right to

think it possible that your application might be pre-

judiced if you decided to purchase other than British

equipment. Please therefore advise immediately whether

you are committed to the suppliers named in paragraph 3

and if not whether success with the grant application

would decide you to buy British. You will appreciate

ive

that can give no commitment.

Land

Msav

10/11

164:57.

Page

Page

!

age 9

SECRET

Reference... HKK 21/12

21

20

Mr. Carter

You have seen telegram No. 851 in which Hong Kong ask that we should seek the highest possible priority for the completion by 90 Signals Group of the technical examination of interference problems between the proposed radar station at Beacon Hill and the Tai Mo Shan radar (RAF) which Hong Kong asked MOD (Air) to arrange. It seems that Hong Kong have recently been advised that this examina- tion cannot be completed before the middle of January 1970.

2.

This request has nothing to do with my schedule so I am copying this minute to Mr. Gaminara. However I am involved by the reference in paragraph 3 of the telegram to the application for a C.D. & W. grant for the expansion of aeronautical telecommunications capa- bility at Kai Tak which, as you know, was submitted at (1) on this file and supplemented at (10). These requests have, of course, been turned down by ODM but we have not informed Hong Kong, whose reminder is at (19).

3. In the telegram, Hong Kong say that their appli- cation for these grants may be prejudiced.

What they mean by this, I think, is that the British equipment (which it appears from their first application they contemplated purchasing from Cable & Wireless) will not now be purchased (unless they get the grant?). Their present intention is to buy the equipment from Selenia Industrie Elettroniche Assocaate SpA (Italian)

4. This declared intention to install foreign equipment at Kai Tak is, I suppose, a first twist of our arm. But it is not the only one. It seems that for technical reasons it will be necessary to provide the firm which installs the equipment with information (some, perhaps all of it, classified) about the RAF installations. We do not know whether this is really necessary, but in paragraph 5 Hong Kong asks for clearance for the release to the manu- facturer, when he asks for it, of technical informa- tion on a number of listed points.

5.

This telegram may cause concern in the Board of Trade and MOD and thence pressure for the grant from C.D. & W. to be reconsidered. As you know, the C.D. & W. grant was an element in the package deal which the Minister directed us to go for.

6. It seems to me that we might now submit to the Minister (on the lines I think you originally con- templated) a letter advising the other Ministries concerned that the Hong Kong application for Kai Tak funds has been refused, and alluding to the possible unfortunate consequences. We are now in a position to refer to the first such unfortunate consequence.

menv

(H. H. Stewart)

7 November, 1969

•

сс

Mr. Gaminara

SECRET