RESTRICTED
321
119
Flags
Flag
+(285)
320
Flag & Go
HKK Flag X
60
Flag F
Mr Male
Parliamentary Unit
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS:
1.
HONG KONG
Mr Kenneth Clarke MP (Conservative, Rushcliffe) has put down
two Questions for written answer on 28 October as follows:
(i) How many refugees from Vietnam remain in Hong Kong;
and what prospects there are of finding them permanent
homes elsewhere.
(ii) What proportion of the value of contracts so far awarded
for construction of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway has been won by British firms.
2. Mr Clarke asked Questions concerning (i) on 20 May and 2 July. There has since been a considerable improvement in the position (Hong Kong telno. 1064 of 24 October). The draft answer suggested by Hong Kong in their telegram is acceptable except that the Home
Office do not wish a reference to be made to the decision in
principle to admit Vietnamese refugees to this country. are aware, this decision represents a departure from the previous policy that refugees from Vietnam should have some previous connection or tie with the UK see the Home Secretary's answer to Mr Alan Lee Williams's Question on 8 May and the Home Office
do not wish attention to be drawn to this fact.
As you
3. Mr Clarke also asked a Question concerning (ii) on 10 July. As regards his present question, it should be noted that British construction companies have shown little interest in the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. They claim to be fully extended elsewhere over the next few years, particularly in the Middle East. They have also criticised Hong Kong's decision to split the work into a number of different parcels, each of which is to be the subject of a separate contract, and claim that this method will impede coordination and control of progress at the centre and lead to
kly wasteful competition among contractors for skilled labour and other
116
scarce resources. The fact, reported in Hong Kong telno. 1069 of 25 October, that no British firm will be awarded one of the
RESTRICTED
/contracts