TNAG-0310-FCO40-346-Contributions-of-Hong-Kong-for-costs-of-maintaining-military-1971 — Page 193

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5.

(i)

(ii)

that he sees no prospect whatever of securing

agreement in Hong Kong to a settlement of this

issue on the basis of the terms that Ministers

have instructed him to put to his Government.

that in his view the only way in which HMG will secure

those terms will be by imposing them upon the

Colony by use of the reserved powers under the

Hong Kong Constitution.

Despite the Governor's views on this matter it would be

out of the question for the Secretary of State to report back

to the Defence and Oversea Policy Committee until action on

their previous decision had been carried out.

And it is not

at all clear from the Governor's telegrams that this has been

done.

6. In the circumstances I see no alternative to sending a

further telegram to the Governor along the lines of the

Sin L. Monson attached draft (which you saw earlier in a slightly different

form). The draft has been agreed at the official level with

the Treasury, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of the

Environment.

E

Гайс

É O Laird

Hong Kong Department

16 August 1971

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