TNAG-0477-FCO40-542-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 116

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Government should be asked to meet the whole cost of such forces

as they wished to see retained".

I argued that they would not

do this. The Governor's view was that they would pay no more

than half the cost. The CDS agreed. The Treasury however

argued that the Governor's advisers would try to make the

minimum contribution, and that it would be essential to make

a very high opening bid. He would however not agree to a

reference to an opening bid in the report.

23. In paragraph 30, terminate the paragraph after the words

"the Sultan" in the first sentence.

24.

Delete paragraph 31.

25. In paragraph 34, delete the word "will" and substitute

"shall continue our aim to". Add the following sentence

"The loss of the airfield and facilities at Masirah would have

to be accepted".

26.

27.

In paragraph 36, delete the second sentence.

In paragraph 37, it was agreed that the Secretariat should

try to prepare a redraft. The CDS argued that the defence interest

in Cyprus was limited to intelligence. But if Ministers decided

that the cost of maintaining a presence in Cyprus, which the

Ministry of Defence estimated at not less than £25 million to

£30 million a year, were held to be too high for the value of the

intelligence received, a separate study would be required about

the extent to which intelligence could be obtained from other

places, and what the cost would be. But a withdrawal from Cyprus

could have serious repercussions on inter-communal relations

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