TNAG-0478-FCO40-543-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 147

+

CECRET

Flag A

Mr Male

Mr Jackson

DEFENCE REVIEW HONG KONG

1.

27 ROG1/4

NKICIO

You asked for a paper for discussion with the MOD this afternoon arising from the Governor's telegram no. 853. I attach

a draft.

2. You said you thought it was important that the MOD, not the FCO, should propose the force option which should be adopted. The paper is therefore vague on this point but will need to be tightened up before it is submitted as a joint MOD/FCO recommendation to the Steering Committee. 110D are anyway considering a number of different options within the limits suggested by the Governor.

3.

I also gather that the

This vagueness would give us trouble from the FCO point of view if we accepted the Governor's proposal that the Hong Kong contribution, while limited to £17 million, should also be defined as

50% of the total cost. I am rather surprised that the Governor should have recommended this, since the Treasury will doubtless try to elide the commitment into an open-ended one where the Hong Kong Government would have no control over escalation or over the

padding of the forces attributed to Hong Kong. I think it would be better to try to get this element deleted on grounds of imprecision.

27 August 1974

AcSta

A C Stuart

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.

C