TNAG-0279-FCO40-315-Visit-of-Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Aff-1970 — Page 35

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Brief No. 4

VISIT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO HONG KONG

APRIL 1970

DEFENCE CONTRIBUTION

SPLKING NOTES

Separato notes are provided for use with the Governor

They cover the point in paragraph 6 of the

and officials.

background notes of which unofficials are unaware.

(1) For use with all

Expiry of Current Agreement

Since the current defence contribution agreement will

expire early next year, it will shortly be necessary to begin

discussions about a new agreement.

Increased Cost of Garrison

It is inevitable that the cost of the post 1971 garrison

will show a substantial increase on present costs, if only

because of all round increases in the cost of equipment,

buildings, rates of pay and similar items.

Capacity to Pay

It has been the accepted doctrine sinoe the last

century that a colony should contribute to the costs of its

own defence according to its capacity to pay.

I appreciate that few if any other colonial territories

have contributed to the cost of their own defence on the

same scale as Hong Kong has done over the years.

perhaps tends to obscure the fact that many territories have

But this

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