CONFIDENTIAL
in the case of Vietnam the United States, France and Australia had past involvements which led them to acknowledge a particular concern for refugees there. There were no traditional United Kingdom links to .Vietnam and the refugees had no connections with Hong
Kong, which was simply a port of asylum. It was a singularly unfair comparison bearing in mind how much the United Kingdom had done for immigrants from countries with which the United Kingdom had traditional ties.
7.
Mr Cortazzi added that the United Kingdom had taken in 1.6m from South Asia and this was continuing at a rate of about 40,000 a year. There were also between 20 and 30 thousand United Kingdom passport holders from East Africa. This presented Britain with major racial problems. In response to a question from Ambassador Clark he said that all those coming from South Asia between 5 and 10 thousand per year were United Kingdom passport holders. The rest were relatives. Ambassador Clark said that he would be interested to know how many refugees (as opposed to family reunion cases) were taken by the United Kingdom. The United States was taking in 290,000 people under its immigration programme for 1979 and a further 120,000 refugees.
8.
The Governor said he was profoundly disappointed that the United States was rewarding bàrbarous behaviour elsewhere and penalizing Hong Kong's humanitarianism. Hong Kong's claim stood on her own record of giving humanitarian asylum, having absorbed 14,000 Indo-Chinese for permanent settlement and having absorbed over 200,000 immigrants from China in the past 18 months. Against this background it was both unfair and illogical that the US programme in Hong Kong should be used to put pressure on the United Kingdom. Ambassador Clark said that the political realities had to be recognised. The United States was concerned about the number being taken by the United Kingdom and believed that the United Kingdom should take more from Hong Kong. He was confident that if United Kingdom numbers increased the United States programme for Hong Kong could also be increased. In response to a question from the Governor, he said that it would not, however, be possible for the United States to make a matching contribution based on extra resettlement either by the United Kingdom or by Hong Kong. He was personally confident that the United Kingdom, which had taken a major initiative in promoting an international conference on the problem, would in fact offer extra resettlement places.
9.
The Governor said he assumed US figures and the breakdown would be reconsidered as a result of the conference. Mr Cortazzi pointed out that the United Kingdom had taken more Vietnamese refugees from ships than any other country: 1,700 since September 1978 compared with 855 by the United States since July 1978.
Whilst the table of
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