TNAG-0537-FCO40-632-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 146

SECRET UK EYES 'A'

if

DEFENCE REVIEW:

HONG KONG

Treasury Amendments to Draft OPD paper attached to Mr Bryars' minute of 30 January

Paragraph 6(c)

Add at end "A variant of this option would be to

press the Hong Kong Government to pay three-quarters of the cost of

the reduced garrison, ie to raise their contribution to £27m."

Paragraphs 9 and 10

ше

is net

fot succeed

in gething Hos Kong to

Substitute the following:

"9. But, whether such a garrison were acceptable or not, there

will still be a gap between Ministers' desire that Hong Kong

should pay three-quarters of the cost and the Governor's

figure of £17m, which would be about half the cost of a

£35m garrison and rather less than half the cost of the

£40m."

"10.

2

The first question therefore is do Ministers consider that, biting agilsinltd that

would nothwithstanding the Governor's view, Hong Kong should still be

-pressed to bear three-quarters of the cost, or do they consider

that an attempt should be made to bridge the gap from both

ends?"

"11.

In the latter case, there are two possible ways of

bridging the gap:-

(a) to increase both the UK and Hong Kong offers, eg

to one-third and two-thirds of the cost (£12m and £23m

respectively for a £35m force, or £13m and £27m for a

£40m force) or;

(b) to increase the proportion paid by the Hong Kong

Government over a period of an Agreement lasting say

5-7 years from £17m in the first year (about half of

the cost of a £35m garrison and rather less than half

of the cost of the £40m garrison) to three-quarters of

the cost at the end of the period.