TNAG-1936-FCO40-2762-Future-of-Hong-Kong-defence-and-public-order-1989 — Page 73

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FILE (24

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

Air Commander A G Hicks Director, Defence Commitment (Rest of the World)

Ministry of Defence Main Building

Whitehall

LONDON

SW1A 2HB

HKC062/1

13 January 1989

Den Alan,

HONG KONG GARRISON WITHDRAWAL PLAN (CDS 787) FIRST REVISE SECOND DRAFT

1. Thank you for your letter of 20 December 1988, enclosing the second draft of the Hong Kong Garrison Withdrawal Plan. I attach a sheet with some detailed drafting suggestions. I also have a number of more general comments:

(a) para 5 of your letter: I have no problem with the use, internally, of the phrase "Sovereign Force Hong Kong" if you find this a helpful descriptive concept. I understand the point you have in mind, and its relationship to the residual tasks of the garrison. But I am not happy about the idea that the title should be formally or publicly adopted. After all the garrison has managed for well over a century without any special title. The demonstration of British sovereignty over the territory has been one of its functions for the whole of that period. It is not very readily explicable why we should choose to make the point only four years or so before we relinquish sovereignty. Indeed I would expect the Hong Kong public to find it richly ironic. And the Chinese, who of course have never acknowledged our sovereignty over the territory, would be baffled and irritated by what they would see as a last-gasp act of provocation on our part. I note that HQBF HK have misgivings, and I would expect these to be shared by the Hong Kong Government.

(b) para 6 of your letter and para 37 of the draft paper: I can understand that there may be good military reasons to carry out an exercise for the contingency reinforcement of Hong Kong. The timing of such an exercise will however have to be carefully considered.

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