TNAG-2224-FCO40-3195-Gulf-War-burden-sharing-Hong-Kong-contribution-1991 — Page 167

Background

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A

B

References:

A:

FCO telno 1756 of 25 September 1990

B:

C:

1.

Hong Kong telno 2864 of 26 September 1990

Details of contributions as at

15 January 1991

Lord Caithness raised the possibility of a contribution

from Hong Kong to the Gulf effort very informally with the

Governor in September. Mr McLaren subsequently sent a

telegram (FCO telno 1756) seeking the Governor's personal

views on how how a request for a contribution, eg to states affected by sanctions against Iraq, might be received. The

Governor's advice (Hong Kong telno 2864) was that the issue

would be very difficult to handle in Hong Kong. The

decision of the Hong Kong Government to contribute to the

Falkland's Fund in 1982 had been highly controversial; the

bitterness over the funding of the Defence Costs Agreement

would be revived; and Hong Kong's major contribution towards

the maintainence of the Vietnamese boat people would be

recalled.

C

2.

The Governor consulted ExCo on 23 October 1990. Their

advice was that the then situation in the Gulf did not offer

an obvious opportunity for Hong Kong to make a contribution;

but that if events change, the position could be reviewed.

They nevertheless expected difficulties with LegCo.

3.

In the new circumstances, the case for a contribution

from Hong Kong is much stronger. Some countries in the

region have given or offered support either in cash or in supplies/back up units notably Taiwan, Korea and Singapore (details attached).

4.

-

The Emergency Unit's strong preference would be for a cash donation in the region of £10 - 15 million. However

there are alternatives. HMG has established a Gulf Trust

Fund to enable contributions to be made to relatives of

SIPANN/2

CVL

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