TNAG-1154-FCO40-1434-Visits-by-Members-of-Parliament-(MPs)-to-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 173

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MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE

9 December 1975] Rt Hon WILLIAM RODGERS, MP, and

Mr RJ ANDREW

and came down in two stages, I think I am right in saying, to the garrison of the kind that has now been agreed. These stages were discussed with CBF on the spot and with the Governor, and we came down to what the Chiefs be- lieved was the minimum guarantee for the security of Hong Kong within the constraints We all understand. Once an agreement is reached and announced, and passions, if there are passions, have subsided, my guess is that it will stick without much trouble, and the only need thereafter will be to make sure that the support costs are kept to the minimum and are reviewed from time to time.

4. What we did discover, which we did not realise before, was the enormous reliance by the police on the Army for internal security. We saw the Gurkha battalions there and we did feel that they relied on the battalion in Brunei as a reserve. It could be got there quickly. This was on internal security. This was put to us fairly strongly. If Brunei is given up I do not know what the situation is. It was said this may affect the recruiting of young officers to the Gurkhas because there are not so many places they can visit. On the last day the General did refer to the reserve in Brunei and we thought he was placing a big reliance on that battalion. It is said you could send a battalion from this country but it would be more difficult as the Transport Command gets less responsibility for Hong Kong. Would you like to comment on that?

-My impression was that importance was attached in Hong Kong to the presence of the battalion in Brunei. Your general observation is true. It is not only true of the Gurkhas that as the opportunity of serving in different and remote parts of the world recedes there are problems in making the ser- vices sufficiently attractive. (Mr Andrew.) As the Minister of State has indicated, the garrison of four and a third major units is regarded by ourselves and Hong Kong as a minimum garrison, and in determining that minimum account has been taken of the fact that there is a battalion in Brunei which would pro- vide local reinforcements in an emer- gency which could get there quickly. If a situation arises in some years' time when that battalion is no longer avail-

[Continued

able, we would obviously have to recon- sider the matter and discuss it with the Hong Kong Government. As I think was mentioned to you in Hong Kong there are also plans to fly out a bat- talion from the United Kingdom as emergency reinforcements, although this would obviously take longer than moving a battalion from Brunei.

5. There is no reserve in Nepal? At the moment there are five Gurkha battalions; three in Hong Kong, one in the United Kingdom and one in Brunei.

6. There is no reserve where they are trained? The young recruits are not turned into a battalion?-They are re- cruited in Nepal. If they are going to the British Army they move to Hong Kong and then they go to Brunei or the United Kingdom.

7. It was made clear to us there was no reserve in Nepal which they could call on in an emergency?——-No.

Mr Conlan

8. Minister of State, will you accept that the prospects of an agreement on defence costs providing for 50 per cent, 62 per cent and 75 per cent of the total costs, is far better than any of us may have anticipated from what we saw and heard in Hong Kong, and therefore you have to be congratulated on reaching this position. I am pleased to hear that there is going to be a percentage arrangement in the Hong Kong contri- bution because the difficulty in the past has been that the fixed amount of £8 million made no provision for inflation, and consequently the proportion of the costs to be borne by the Hong Kong Government was getting progressively smaller. This should not happen in the future? (Rt Hon William Rodgers.) I am grateful for what you say. The agreement is not finally signed, sealed and delivered. I hope you will keep your fingers crossed. The difficulty has been the point about fairness. It is a unique agreement. We were actually negotiating an agreement with a Gover- nor of a British colony, and that leads to a degree of schizophrenia because you are concerned with his position in the colony, and you have to find a middle course between banging the table and