Mr McLaren
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
CONFIDENTI AL
57
Reference
HKK 243/1
94
Aralı
CRE
74
1. Hong Kong telegram no53 (copy attached) asked whether we could commission a special assessment on the subject of the organised movement of refugees out of Vietnam. Hong Kong hoped that this would fill in the gaps in the information available to them.
2. I discussed with Mr Walker in the Cabinet Office, lão pointed out that what Hong Kong seemed to want was not an
'assessment" in the accepted sense of a brief summary of back- ground followed by a fairly stark statement of conclusion but a more detailed review of all available evidence. more a task for Research Department than for the assessment staff. I therefore spoke to Mr Bone in Research Department who agreed to have one of his staff prepare such a review. On the strength of this, you sent an interim reply to Hong Kong (FCO tel no 20 copy also attached).
3.
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Mr Bone however has now come back to us to say that, having discussed the subject in detail with SEAD, Research Department cannot see that they have anything new to tell Hong Kong. I have discussed this with Mr Humfrey in SEAD, who confirmed Mr Bone's view: except possibly for some press reports, there is nothing here that Hong Kong will not already have seen.
4.
In the circumstances therefore it seems that we shall have to send Hong Kong a reply on the lines of the attached draft (which I have cleared with SEAD and Research Department).
agrees
5. Since dictating the above, I have also spoken again to to Walker, who
with the proposed reply. He and say however that they had just received report which, though it contained nothing substantially new, did seem to add more details to what was lown already. He will be sending a Copy to Hong Kong.
a
11 January 1979
W.E. Chantell
WE Quantrill
Hong Kong and General Department
CODE 18-77
Telegram
sent for despatch.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN RETAINED IN THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SECTION 3 (4) OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1958
CONFIDENTIAL
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