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CONFIDENTIAL
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RECORD OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS AND THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF SINGAPORE, HELD AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE AT 4.00 PM. ON 18 JULY
Present
The Rt Hon Lord Carrington
Mr Cortazzi, DUSS
Mr JS Wall, APS.
Mr J J Beale, SEAD
Mr S Rajaratnam, Foreign Minister of
Singapore
Mr Jek Yeun Thong, High Commissioner
Singapore
Mr Low Choon Ming, Minister-Counsellor
Singapore High Commission
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
1. After initial courtesies, Mr Rajaratnam confirmed that he would attend the meeting in Geneva where the Vietnamese might well have a plan to sow discard between the ASEAN and Western Governments. A Reuter report from Moscow seemed to be conveying a new line that China and the West were responsible for the serious refugee problem which was placing an injust burden on ASEAN countries. Hanoi were saying the same and might well promise to help tackle the problem by controlling the outflow.
2. Lord Carrington said that such an offer would be unconvincing. Although Dr Waldheim had insisted that the meeting should have a primarily humanitarian character, the policies behind the problem could not be disregarded, and the UK statement would draw attention to the "root causes".
3.
Mr Rajaratnam said that the British Prime Minister had been right to seek a political conference since the humanitarian problems were a consequence of the political problem. Mr Rajaratnam's speech at the ASEAN meeting in Bali had evoked a Vietnamese comment that the Chinese city of Singapore was echoing China's slanders. He had not decided how much to say in Geneva.
CONFIDENTIAL
/BRUNEI