Reference.........HKK 10/1..
SECRET
Mr David, Defence Dept.
HONG KONG GARRISON: DP NOTE 212/75(C)(DRAFT)
1.
You asked for urgent comments on the attached.
2. Paragraph 3(a) is not strictly accurate (since the Governor's assessment was not "new") but I doubt whether we need quibble with it. More important, I had not appreciated that the Defence Policy Staff intended to make quite so much of the point about the reinforcement from Brunei (see paras. 8 and 16). If and when the Brunei battalion is withdrawn it will be necessary to ask the Chiefs of Staff to review the force level again; and, if they were then unable to agree to the reduced reinforcement capability which withdrawal (and presumably disbandment) would imply, we might have to ask Hong Kong to meet the cost of stationing an additional Gurkha battalion in the Colony. We should ensure that the UK side make this clear to Hong Kong during the forthcoming negotiations.
Notwithstanding the above, I think we can accept the draft as it stands.
3.
es
30 April 1975
SECRET
B H Dinwiddy
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.