TNAG-0475-FCO40-540-Contributions-of-Hong-Kong-for-costs-on-maintaining-military-1974 — Page 60

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From: A F Thorp OBE, Head of Fl(Air)

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

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letter fo

Governor of 29 Grail

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Main Building Whitehall London SW1A 2HB Author &

Telephone 01-930 7022 ext

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M A Goodfellow Esq

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1

Your reference

Our reference

Head of Fl(Air)/9959

Date

19 April 1974

Каси

Lasdfeilor.

HONG KONG DEFENCE CONTRIBUTION

LART

RCF

(1)

NEXI

REF.

As you will know we were unable to provide comments on the attachments to your letter HKK 10/7 of 5 April as requested because the letter was not received until 10 April.

2. To avoid separate comments coming to you from numerous different quarters I have held a discussion with Aggleton and Lockwood and the redraft which I enclose with this letter represents our joint views. We have found it more convenient to offer you redrafts rather than a series of long and detailed amendments.

3.

I hope that the various changes we have proposed will not be difficult for you to accept and the only special point to which I think I need draw attention is our omission of the last sentence of your first paragraph of the draft letter to the Governor. The QMGS visit to Hong Kong was primarily in relation to an engagement with the Gurkhas and the discussions about works costs in relation to the Defence Contribution were incidental. However, if you still feel this sentence should be included, we could of course have no possible objection.

4. The suggestion we have made in paragraph 7 of the draft letter about the MOD/PSA team going out on 2nd May and having discussions about the amount of an additional contribution in no way alters the basic agreement that a decision on the figure must be made in London as a result of ancoffer from Hong Kong. But the fact is that the calculations can be so complex and the options so numerous that it would obviously be helpful all round if the scope of any difficulties could be narrowed down while PSA and MOD experts are there.

5. I am copying this to Michael Scholar at the Treasury (as well as to Pat Aggleton and Freddie Lockwood) and he may care to give you direct any changes he would wish to see in what we have now put forward.

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