Background Brief V
CONFIDENTIAL
Immigration into Hong Kong from China
1341/3
1. Since the beginning of this year there has been a sharp rise in
the number of immigrants arriving in Hong Kong from China.
been causing some concern in Hong Kong.
This has
Mr McLaren's submission of
Flag A 9 June gives the background to the problem. On the basis of that
submission, the Secretary of State has accepted that the present policy,
on both legal and illegal immigration, is the only one possible, but
he has said that we should discuss the problem more frequently with the
Chinese. He has subsequently confirmed that by this he means that
discussions should normally be pursued on an informal level in Hong Kong
as at present.
2.
When Mr McLaren spoke to the Governor about this on 5 July, the
Governor said that he was not in fact unduly worried.
For the last
two years the number of people leaving Hong Kong has exceeded the
number of those coming in. Although so far this year the trend has
been reversed, this should not yet be seen as a serious problem.
But
it will become so if the rate of immigration continues at its present
level for very long, and we may therefore be faced sooner or later with
the problem of deciding what action to take to reduce the influx.
There are a number of possible courses open to us: we can consider
these further in the light of circumstances then prevailing, as soon
as the Governor indicates that the problem has become serious.
CONFIDENTIAL