TNAG-0348-FCO40-384-Costs-of-extra-services-provided-by-armed-forces-of-UK-in-Ho-1972 — Page 70

CONFIDENTIAL

which had originally been prepared by the Army

several years earlier to meet external armed

aggression: they had been Sited as a military

committment long before the nature of the 1967

disturbances became apparent.

Such works had

previously always been a charge to Her Majesty's

Government: they had been refurbished in 1967 by

the military authorities on their own initiative

and without reference to the Hong Kong Government

which sees no reason why it should meet the costs

involved.

X

Ѣ

(2) The experiences of 1967 made it clear that

there was a more permanent need for a joint police/

military presence on the frontier than the purely

military situation might dictate. It was no longer

practicable to attempt to distinguish between a

threat to internal security and a threat of armed

aggression across the border

Accordingly, in

March 1968, the Hong Kong Government took the

policy decision referred to in paragraph 9 above.

(3) It was in accordance with that decision that exercise "Springclean" was undertaken, at the

request and on the initiative of the Hong Kong

Government, which agreed to meet the costs involved.

(4) The Hong Kong Government sees no reason why

the change in policy reflected by its decision in exercise "Spring clean" should be applied with retrospection effect to exercise "Highland Bonnet",

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office support the

/Hong Kong

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CONFIDENTIAL

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