HKK 10/9
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29 October,1970.
You will, I am sure, remember the talks with Hong Kong in 1966 about the Defence Contribution.
We are now engaged in the preliminary exchanges with David Trench about the size of the Contribution for the five financial years beginning 1971/72, and a point came up during Mr. Royle's recent visit to Hong Kong on which we would welcome your help.
We were not on this visit negotiating a new Contribution we are hoping on this round to be able to reach agreement with Trench on a figure which he will subsequently be able to persuade his Executive and Legislative Councillors to accept) but were in fact discussing Hong Kong's exclusion from the "ODM list" of aid-worthy countries. During the discussion, one or two of the unofficial members said that when Mr. Fred Lée negotiated the current Defence Contribution he gave an undertaking (implicit we gather rather than explicit) that Hong Kong would be "compensated", as it were, for agreeing to a Defence Contribution by receiving sympathetic consideration in the aid field. C.Y.Kwan suggested that we could check with you.
We have gone through the relevant papers here but can find no reference to this. In the circumstances (and especially in view of C.Y. Kwan's reference to you) I thought I had better write to you to see if you had any recollection of such an undertaking.
I am sorry to have to bother you about something which happened so long ago. It would, however, be most helpful if you could give us any information on the point. Trench told us that he was not present on any occasion when Mr. Lee said anything to this effect, but that he was not at all the talks between Unofficial Members and Mr. Lee.
(L. Monson)
H.E. Sir A. Galsworthy, K.C.M.G.,
British High Commission,
Wellington.
P.S.
On my first visit to Hong Kong in October 1969 I heard something to the same effect from Douggie Clague.
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