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Strength and Netposition of Garrison
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 confidencc; if either were to slip, the Chinese Government would be quick to exploit the situation and our position would rapidly become untenablo.
Until
but
21. Hong Kong becuse an independent military command in April, 1970. The presunt Currison in the Colony consists of 63 major Army units and three coastal minesweepers. recently Fighter air cover was provided from Singapore; this arrangement could not be continued after the withdrawal of an RAF Hunter squadron FromSingapore 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. Since it would not be possible to reinforce the Hong Kong Garrison from Singapore or Malaysia in time of need, the previous Government decided that, after 1971, the
Garrison should consist of:
Royal Navy
Army
Royal Air Force
Two Frigates
Five Mine counter measures
One small tanker
7ŝ major units
Ten Whirlwind helicopters (already in Ilong Kong)
RAP staging elements
RAF Signals elements.
22. From local funds Hong Kong maintains a Police Force with an establishment of about 12,000 all ranks (overwhelmingly Chinese in composition) and a Volunteer Defence Force about
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/ 900
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