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Mr.Dunn
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Pls cc Mr. Jock
My Lover Mi Zackan
From: M L, Howard Secretariat (Overseas) (Commitments) of return to me.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Main Building, Whitehall SW1
071 218 6272
CLux Thane 185/9
M Stone Esq
Hong Kong Dept
Foreign and Commonwealth Office King Charles St
London SW1
D/Sec(0) (C) 6/7
28 August 1991
HKB 063/1
what do
Dear Michel,
HONG KONG PATROL CRAFT: TASKING
1. As you know, the three patrol craft pay a number of visits to ports outside Hong Kong in pursuit of wider political and defence objectives, eg with the FPDA. The visits are planned by CINCFLEET and CBF Hong Kong against overall priorities set by MOD (in consultation with the FCO) as follows:
these mean?
a. High priority. Brunei and Malaysia.
b. Medium priority. Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
C.
Low priority. Australia, Korea, Philippines and Japan.
Roughly five visits take place each year.
2. Following the recent debate over the future of the patrol craft and the decision in principle to retain them in Hong Kong until 1997, CBF has been considering proposals to concentrate their activity in the Territory. Specifically he is considering adjusting their tasking to ensure that there would be a patrol craft at sea within the Square Boundary 365 days a year, as opposed to 276 at present. This would reduce the number of overseas visits to three per year. We see no particular problems with this, given that the recent emphasis on our participation in the FPDA (the principal non garrison defence interest in the region) has been on the use of Europe and Gulf based units rather than those in Hong Kong. This is a deliberate policy aimed at re-assuring Malaysia and Singapore that the UK will not abandon the region militarily once the Hong Kong garrison withdraws in 1997.
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