ENG-1982 — Page 265

15

The Armed Services and Auxiliary Services

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隊助

THE Armed Services operate in Hong Kong under the overall command of the Commander British Forces, who advises the Governor on matters affecting the security of Hong Kong and who is also responsible to the Chief of Defence Staff in London. The Armed Services are stationed here primarily to assist the government in maintaining security and stability and to sustain confidence in the United Kingdom's stated commitment to Hong Kong.

The Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force are all represented in Hong Kong. During the year, the permanent garrison comprised five Royal Navy patrol craft, a naval tug, a Royal Marines raiding squadron, one United Kingdom and four Gurkha infantry battalions, a Gurkha engineer regiment, a Gurkha signals regiment, a Gurkha transport regiment, one Army helicopter squadron equipped with 10 Scout helicopters and one Royal Air Force squadron with eight Wessex helicopters.

The size and composition of the garrison, and the contribution Hong Kong makes towards the cost of keeping it here, are determined by a Defence Costs Agreement between the Hong Kong and United Kingdom governments. The previous agreement came into effect on April 1, 1976, and was scheduled to run for seven years. However, the increase in the local population, together with its re-distribution within Hong Kong, were such that the resident garrison was considered too small to meet the potential internal security threat in the 1980s. A new agreement was therefore negotiated, to run for seven years from April 1, 1981, allowing for the present sized garrison. Additionally, reinforcements are available when appropriate and necessary.

Since the ending of the 'touch-base' policy in October 1980, the flow of illegal immigrants has been much reduced, although it continues to be necessary for all three services to concentrate a very significant part of their effort on the task of preventing illegal immigration by land and sea.

Royal Navy

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The Royal Navy, based in HMS Tamar, has continued to maintain patrols of Hong Kong waters. The Royal Navy force of five patrol craft and the Third Raiding Squadron Royal Marines have also acted in close support with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in deterring and apprehending illegal immigrants from China, intercepting refugees from Vietnam and conducting operations against smugglers and others who illegally infringe the territorial waters. The main effort has been at night, spearheaded by the fast boats of the Royal Marines raiding squadron in co-operation with units of the other services.

The Captain-in-Charge Hong Kong has responsibilities for the operational control of the Hong Kong Sea Defence Area which extends to 80 kilometres and, with the Director of Marine and the Director of Civil Aviation, for search and rescue operations in the South China Sea. The Naval Base at HMS Tamar maintains a submarine rescue facility and