TNAG-0348-FCO40-384-Costs-of-extra-services-provided-by-armed-forces-of-UK-in-Ho-1972 — Page 33

CONFIDENTIAL

BORDER FENCE

1. The circumstances in which this fence came to be built and the purpose that it was intended to serve cre described in liong Kong telegram No. 1320 of 29 August 1967 (copy attached). The Ministry of Defence made it clear to the Commonwealth Cfrice in 1967 that they would expect defence votes to be reimbursed for any expenditure incurred by them in connection with the project. And in October 1967, the Connenwealth Office acknowledged that such expenditure was not a proper charge on defonce votes since the fence was in the nature of an "immigration control Leasure" (ace attached copy of letter dated 4 October 1967 from Hall to Cass)

5. However, those now dealing with this matter in the FC0, some of whom were directly involved in Hong Kong at the time consider that the view expressed by the Commonwealth Office in 1967 was incorrect. They point out that in the last sentence of their telegram No. 1320, the Hong Kong Government stated that

'our present view is they are defensive measures designed to mect an external threat and that therefore the charge should be one which this Government should not have to meet" ". In support of this view, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have providcă the following information in addition to that contained in the telegram.

6. From early July 1967, after a particularly serious border incident, the Army had taken over responsibility for the defence of the border with the police in support. There had been a number of incursions by groups of people from China over the border into liong Kong. On one particular occasion, mulhers of Chinese had intruded into British territory, torn down the then existing border fence and other obstacles and had ended up by holding prisoner within our territory a British Brigadier and a number of Gurkha soldiers. In addition at that time conditions in China, as a result of the cultural revolution, were such that there was a serious risk that large numbers of Chinese fleeing from China might either try to burst over the frontier, or alternatively and in order to embarrass the British troops on the bordor, Light be driven over it. The border fence in cxistencc

at that time was very close to the actual border and quite useless for the purpose of helping to control any incursion of the kinds mentioned above or indeed of any other kind. Accordingly the Governor and the military authorities in Hong Kong agreed on the erection of a new fence well back from the frontier and in a position where any incursion could be held without intervention from China's armed forces on the border, short of their violating British territory or resorting to the use of fire-arns. indication of the situation at the time can perhaps best be obtained from the Hong Kong Covernment confidential report on the 1967 disturbances of which the text of Chapter 8 is annexed. This explains well the sort of contingencies against which the fence was constructed without actually mentioning the fence.

7.

An

In the light of the above circumstances, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office do not share the view expressed by the former

CONEIDENTIAL

/Commonwealth