TNAG-2675-FCO40-3872-Hong-Kong-garrison-withdrawal-plan-1993 — Page 177

19 March 1993

ML Howard Esq

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Ministry of Defence

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19 MAR 1993

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Comment

THE FUTURE OF THE HONG KONG GARRISON

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1913

1. Thank you for copying to us with your minute of 18 March your note for MOD Ministers in response to Mr Hamilton's suggestion of a faster run-down of the Hong Kong garrison.

2.

We thought that your note touched on most of the main points, although clearly a lot more work would be needed before Ministers could take decisions. We agreed with Mr Hamilton that a proposal to run the garrison quickly down to a single battalion would need in the end to be discussed in OPD given the wider implications for our policy over Hong Kong.

3.

We would obviously want to consult Ministers and comment more formally if the MOD decide that the idea should be pursued. But as a working-level comment, we thought that you might include the following points:

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- The Governor has not actually asked for a

rapid run-down of the garrison to one battalion. As we understand his present position, he would like the reduction to two battalions to take place in 1994 and to one battalion as planned in 1996.

- If the sort of earlier withdrawal envisaged by

Mr Hamilton were to yield cost-savings as early as the FY 93/94 year, that would obviously be very attractive to Hong Kong. But Ministers and the Governor would also need to balance the signal that would be sent of diminishing British commitment to Hong Kong (you mention this in your paragraph 4). There is also the more operational point of whether a single Gurkha battalion in Hong Kong would leave adequate capability to deal with any

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