TNAG-1154-FCO40-1434-Visits-by-Members-of-Parliament-(MPs)-to-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 159

THIRD REPORT FROM THE EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE

(DEFENCE AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SUB-COMMITTEE)

THIRD REPORT

xiii

The use of asterisks in this Report indicates that a passage, word or figure has been omitted at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Expenditure Committee have agreed to the following Report :-

HONG KONG AND CYPRUS

INTRODUCTION

1. From 17 to 27 November 1975, the Defence and External Affairs Sub- Committee visited Hong Kong, Cyprus and Athens. In Hong Kong the Sub-Committee had discussions with the Commander, British Forces, Hong Kong, and with the Colonial Government. They also visited the main Service establishments and installations in the Colony. In Cyprus, the programme included discussions with the Commander, British Forces, Near East and the British High Commissioner, and visits to both Sovereign Bases and to HQ UNFICYP. The Sub-Committee completed their tour by having discussions at HM Embassy in Athens.

HONG KONG

2. The principal issue with which the Sub-Committee were confronted in Hong Kong was the unresolved negotiations for a defence costs agreement between the Government and the Colonial administration. Discussions had been going on since 1974 in order to replace the agreement which would expire in April 1976. In the Defence Review, the Government announced that it was their intention to review the level of forces stationed in Hong Kong and the amount of the contribution to the cost of British forces to be agreed with the Hong Kong government (Q 2). The size of the British presence in Hong Kong was not and is not a major source of dispute between the two parties. We have some reservations concerning the revised composition of the British Forces in Hong Kong which are dealt with below but provision on the proposed scale is more or less accepted on all sides. The main question to be settled was the level of the contribution to be made by the Hong Kong government to British defence costs. Under the previous agreement the garrison included five infantry battalions (three of them Gurkha), an artillery regiment, an armoured squadron of Scorpion light tanks and a Gurkha engineer squadron ; a frigate guard ship and five naval patrol craft; and a RAF helicopter squadron (see Appendix 9 p 31).

3. Before the Sub-Committee's visit, the Minister of State for Defence out- lined to them in general terms the order of magnitude of the proposed contri- bution negotiated with the Hong Kong government'. The outstanding issues were the timescale of the agreement, the provision for taking account of inflation and the return to the Hong Kong government of land surplus to requirements of the Services (Q 2). The terms of final agreement were announced to the House on 19 December 1975 (HC Deb. 19 December Vol

1 See Minutes of the Evidence from the Expenditure Committee (Defence and External Affairs Sub-Committee) 11 November 1975, HC (1975–76) 13-ii, Q 949.