PJ Weston Esq British Embassy WASHINGTON
CONFIDENTIAL
309
6 July, 1979
HKK
<k243/1
VIETNAM REFUGEES
You will have seen from the telegram that wo have been worrying, and putting pressure on the Americans, about the allocation to Hong Kong from the overall US boat refugee quota.
2.
It would be very helpful for us to know exactly who in the Washington machinery decides on precise allocation quotas and what the factors are which they take into account. We need to know whether local political considerations (e.g. Congressional opinion) and foreign policy considerations (e.g. attitude towards ASEAN) are important so that we can best consider what arguments to deploy to buck Hong Kong's cuse and where. I would be most grateful for anything you can tell us.
cc
A 1 Simone Ssa
(DC Wilson)
South-East Asian Department
RJ ↑ McLaren Esq
Hong Kong & General Department
CONFIDENTIAL