TNAG-2057-FCO40-2935-Armed-incursions-by-China-and-Royal-Navy-rules-of-engagement-1990 — Page 82

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CONFIDENTIAL UK EYES BRAVO

DRAFT

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: HONG KONG PATROL CRAFT

At 1615.

We, together with MOD, have been giving careful consideration to your telno 1559 of 111035z May concerning proposed changes to Rules of Engagement for the RN Patrol Craft. Although we share your concern about the problem of incursions and agree that we should respond robustly, we must also take care to avoid the possibility of a misunderstanding which could cause a minor incident to escalate. In particular, while it is worrying that

firearms were brandished in the Pillar Point incident, we must

not overreact to what is, we hope, an isolated and rather

bizarre event. With that in mind, we and MOD agree that some

strengthening of the Patrol Craft ROE is required but we consider that one or two of your proposed changes would take us

slightly too far up the scale at present.

We agree that Rule 510C should be amended to Rule 510D but only for non(non) automatic weapons (ie pistols, SLRS and SA80). Rule 510C should continue to apply for automatic weapons (ie GPMG and LMG) which represent a further degree of escalation and should only be loaded if necessary to respond to a specific

armed threat. This would correspond precisely with recently

amended ROE for RN vessels worldwide.

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We also agree that Rule 550 needs amendment to allow eg a patrol

craft to assist a HKP boat which is subject to harassment. The

MOD view, with which we agree, is that screening (ie interposition) is sufficient. Riding off especially given that the patrol craft is likely to be considerably larger than the opposition is a more aggressive manoeuvre. We therefore prefer Rule 550C. (It is not immediately clear that either of these rules would have been relevant to the Pillar Point

incident. Rules 670, 680, 690 and 700 seem far more

appropriate.)

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CONFIDENTIAL UK EYES BRAVO