SECRET
Visit of the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster to Hong Kong
September 1970
Background Note
Defence and Internal Security
rength and mposition
Garrison.
Hong Kong could not be defended against a determined
Chinese attack except perhaps by the use of nuclear weapons.
There are no plans for the reinforcement of Hong Kong against
external attack and the external role of the Garrison is to
"identify aggression". Local opinion, while probably under
no illusion about the ability of the present Garrison to
resist for long, regards the existence of British troops
deployed to guard the frontier as an assurance of our
intention to maintain our position in the Colony. The
principal role of the garrison is therefore to assist in
maintaining internal security and local confidence; if
either were to slip, the Chinese Government would be quick
to exploit the situation and our position would rapidly
become untenable.
2.
Hong Kong became an independent military command in
April, 1970. The present Garrison in the Colony consists
of 63 major Army units and three coastal minesweepers.
Until recently Fighter air cover was provided from
Singapore; but this arrangement could not be continued
after the withdrawal of an RAF Hunter squadron from
Singapore in March, 1970. Fighter cover on a reduced
scale is now provided by visits to the Colony by RAF
detachments of aircraft on training flights to the Far
/East...
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