CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Munro
Defence Department
DEPLOYMENT OF RN TASK GROUP 317.8
1. Your minute of 3 May refers.
HKK (
HKK 016/1.
10 MAY 1979
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No fios
2. We spoke, in particular about para.3 of your draft letter to Mrs Williams at DS5/Ministry of Defence. This as it stands contra- dicts our earlier bid for at least one ship to visit Hong Kong/
There are - China later this year (Miss Johns' letter of 10 April).
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as you mention very good reasons for this. It would be hard to argue against the Group calling in at Bombay if this did indeed coincide with a visit to the town by the Prince of Wales. I also appreciate that we should not at this stage rule out a visit to the Gulf for the purpose either of restoring links or reassuring our allies.
3. On the other hand it would be wrong for us to do a complete about turn and decide against the visit to Hong Kong. The reasons listed in Miss Johns' letter are still valid. Nor should a "symbolic" visit be deprived of all significance. For Hong Kong, its security forces stretched to the limit in dealing with the influx of refugees and illegal immigrants, any visit at all by the koyal Navy would be welcome. And there is no denying that a visit is long overdue.
4. Of course there may well be, as you suggest, difficulties in diverting even one ship away from the rest of the Group, in which case a visit to Hong Kong would have to go by the board. I would prefer however for the Ministry of Defence to point this out rather than for us to offer them a convenient loophole.
If on balance your letter still comes down in favour of a visit to Thailand, the Indian sub-continent and possibly the Gulf area, should be grateful if you would reiterate the importance of Hong kong in any plans for next year's visit to China.
I
F
9 May 1979
cc: Mr Fursland, FED
N A Ling
Hong Kong and General Department K242
233 3988
CONFIDENTIAL
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