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SECRET.

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ANNEX.

DEFENCE OF HONG KONG.

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE

FOR THE COLONIES.

199

In their Far Eastern appreciation (C.0.S. (40)592

of 31st July, 1940) the Chiefs of Staff reported as follows on the position of Hong Kong:-

"Our position at Hong Kong is different, as this is a British Colony. Nevertheless, Hong Kong is not a vital interest and the garrison could not long withstand Japanese attack. Even if we had a strong fleet in the Far East, it is doubtful whether Hong Kong with its present defences could be held now that the Japanese are firmly established on the mainland of China; and it could certainly not be used as an advanced naval base.

Should it be found possible to negotiate a general settlement in the Far East it would be in our best military interests to arrange to demilitarise Hong Kong, obtaining the best quid pro quo for this concession. Except as part of such general settlement, demilitarisation of Hong Kong is impracticable owing to the loss of prestige which it would entail.

In the event of war, Hong Kong must be regarded as an outpost and held as long as possible. We should resist the inevitably strong pressure to reinforce Hong Kong and we should certainly be unable to relieve it. Militarily our position in the Far East would be stronger without this unsatisfactory commitment.

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Since that appreciation the Japanese have established themselves on the Indo-China coast at Haiphong and can no doubt make use of other ports and aerodromes in Indo-China. In these circumstances it seems possible that the denial of the use of Hong Kong harbour to the Japanese has not the same value in relation to the defence of Singapore that it had some months ago.

In any case I feel that a full review of our defence policy at Hong Kong is urgently required.

I annex an extract from an Official Intelligence Report No. 62 of 2nd July, 1940, in which the problem of the local Chinese population is raised, and a note prepared by Sir Geoffry Northcote, the Governor now on leave, regarding the defensibility of Hong Kong. I request that the Chiefs of Staff will review the whole question and submit

recommendations as to our future policy, and I suggest that they might find it useful to invite Sir Geoffry Northcote to assist in their consideration of the problem.

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