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d) Timely reinforcement would also serve the political purpose
of showing the Chinese that we meant business. If we failed
to reinforce they would conclude that the British Government
attached little importance to the problem and would not
take action on their side of the border. The flow of
illegals would increase and much heavier reinforcements
would be needed to stem it.
2.
Summing up a short discussion, the Secretary of State said
that the requests made by the Governor were moderate against the
background which he had described. He undertook to speak to the
Defence Secretary.
Vietnamese refugees
3. Sir Murray MacLehose described the present situation in Hong
Kong, where there were now 52,000 refugees from Vietnam. Accommo-
dation was desperately short and there was a real risk that the
numbers would have doubled by the end of the summer. But there was
no alternative to allowing the small boat refugees in: Hong Kong
was at the end of the line and there was nowhere else for them to
The only solution was to turn off the tap by putting pressure
on Vietnam. If that happened the remaining refugees would be
comparatively easy to absorb, particularly if countries could
agree to take a fixed quota. Hong Kong would take its share.
go.
4. The following points were made in discussion:-
a) We should be clear about the purpose of the international
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