DSR 11 (Revised)
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SECRETARY OF STATE'S MEETING WITH THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG
SIR M MACLEHOSE ON 10 JANUARY 1980
Essential Facts
1.
Legal immigration from China.
Hong Kong Government
•
at present impose no controls on numbers because Chinese
consider that their nationals have right of free entry into
Hong Kong. Legal arrivals averaged 69 a day in 1977; 184 in
1978 and 193 in 1979. In recent months the average has
been around 170 from a peak of 270 in February. Still
far too high. Told the Chinese many times that they must
reduce it to 50. Early last year we considered in
consultation with Hong Kong and Peking the imposition
by the Hong Kong Government of a quota of 50 a day.
This has not been pursued for a variety of reasons.
The Chinese seem to have settled on a figure of about
160 a day; ie 58,000 a year or about 1% of the population
of Hong Kong. Do we need therefore to reconsider agani адай
the imposition of a quota?
2.
More than
Following strong
Illegal immigration from China.
representations to the Chinese in the spring of last year
and reinforcements of the Hong Kong Garrison in June, the
daily average of illegal immigrants repatriated to China
CONFIDENTIAL
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