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The Governor is quietly working towards agreement between Officials about a level of garrison and contributions which would be acceptable to HMG and which Executive Council could be
brought to accept. This process is a preliminary to making the proposal public and putting it to Legislative Council (whose Finance Committee, which has an Unofficial majority, votes the funds). The Governor had envisaged the latter definitive process taking place in about May (i.e. after the Budget and, incidentally, after the Queen's visit). His advice is that it is an emotive issue, which should not become a matter of public debate
before he is sure that he has Executive Council's support for a
specific proposition. He fears that the second proposed statement
would have this undesirable effect.
6. He advises that it would be much better from the point of
view of his ability to influence things in Hong Kong, if the reference to an intention to cut the garrison and insist on a
higher contribution could be omitted. However, he accepts that UK Ministers might come under pressure in Parliament to go
further than the first version which he favours. In that event
he suggests that there would be less objection to using the substance of the second text in answer to supplementaries. Nor would he see objection to it being used for background briefing of the British press.
What he is anxious to avoid is an official
statement on the record.
7.
Since the Governor's views have not found acceptance at official level, tomorrow's discussion in Cabinet will be the last opportunity to bring to the attention of Ministers the considerations relevant to the situation in Hong Kong. It is not simply a matter of meeting Hong Kong's susceptibilities. If they decline to raise their contribution as we require, we shall be faced with the choice of weakening the garrison still further, or of meeting the deficit ourselves. Sir Murray's tactical advice on how to avoid this situation is highly relevant. We are not asking the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence to forgo their objective of a higher
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