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THE DEFENCE REVIEW: HONG KONG
Building block I: total abandonment of UK Commitments
outside NATO
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Line to take:
Hong Kong
Total withdrawal from Hong Kong is not an option. Hong Kong could not be governed without a garrison. Nor would confidence in the Colony's future survive total removal;The elimination of the garrison would only be conceivable in a situation where we intended to withdraw politically in the immediate future. The Secretary of State has made it clear, most recently in a letter to Sir A. Royle, which was agreed with the Ministry of Defence, that this is not in contemplation.
Building block II: An acceptable compromise
Some reduction of the garrison is undoubtedly possible. The FCO have never quantified this. Mr Rogers in the minute of his recent visit to the Far East wrote of a reduction of rather less than half the present garrison of 6/3 major units (battalions). The extent of possible reductions depends on three interlocking factors: -
a)
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the force needed to cope with internal disorders and to deter internal and external adventures (there is no question of being able to defeat a full-scale Chinese invasion) ; b) the maintenance of confidence in the colony; c) the proportion of the cost of the garrison which
Hong Kong are willing and able to bear themselves.
Considerations a) and b) affect each other. The garrison will be an effective military deterrent to the extent that
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