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D/Sec (0) (C) 6/7
18 June 1993
APS/Secretary of State
copy to: MA/Minister (AF)
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MA/DCDS (C)
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2 8 JUN 1993
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OFFICE
INDE
2/6
Special Adviser
Press Secretary
FCO (Hong Kong Dept)
THE RUN-DOWN OF THE HONG KONG GARRISON: TELLING THE CHINESE AND PR HANDLING
1. The OPD Memorandum on the future of the Hong Kong garrison is now being circulated by the Cabinet Office for clearance out of Committee by 25 June. The Governor will be briefing EXCO on its contents on 22 June. The Secretary of State may find it useful to have an update on what happens once the Memorandum has been cleared.
2. We have agreed with the FCO and Hong Kong that the first step, in accordance with our usual practice for major force level changes in Hong Kong, should be to inform the Chinese through the JLG of our intentions. This is planned for 28 June, and our decisions will be presented as the culmination of a measured period of planning rather than an acceleration of existing plans. The strong advice from the JLG is that we should give the Chinese a reasonable period to reflect on this before making it public, on the grounds that the only thing Peking will like less than a rapid reduction in the size of the garrison, is being bounced with it. We and the FCO have agreed this and have provisionally planned on making announcements on This is likely to take the form of a statement by CBF at a Press Conference in Hong Kong in parallel with an inspired written answer in the UK. We and Hong Kong are working on the drafts: again the aim would be to present this as a measured decision rather than a faster run-down. It would also be courteous to inform the governments of Nepal and Brunei slightly in advance of the public announcement, given that our plans involve the further amalgamation of two Gurkha regiments. All the draft material will of course be cleared with Minsters in advance.
3. It has also been suggested that it would be an appropriate time to raise with the Chinese the idea of direct talks between the garrison and the PLA on the modalities of handover. There
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