TNAG-0480-FCO40-545-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 157

5.

The passage would then read:

"We intend to keep our forces in Hong Kong, although we propose to make some reductions in them and to seek from the Hong Kong Government an appropriate contribution to their cost when the present cost-sharing agreement runs out in 1976."

6.

If there are supplementary questions in the House about what is meant by an "appropriate contribution", I see no reason why we should not then say that a somewhat larger Hong Kong contribution is the object. A supplementary answer would cause less problems in Hong Kong and with ExCo than an explicit statement in the main text.

A

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