a
GR 850
SECRET
FM HONG KONG 1303012 SEP
SECRET
AKK 341/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 17 SEP 1980
INDEX
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TO
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REGISTAY
tion Taken
877.5 Au 171
TO IMMEDIATE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE TELEGRAM NUMBER 1171 OF 13 SEPTEMBER, 1980 INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON AND PEKING.
SUBJECT: CONTROL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA
1. IN CONNECTION WITH THE POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATION CHAMPION THE FOLLOWING IS OUR ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION.
2. THE LEVEL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION HAS RISEN ALARMINGLY HIGH. SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 61,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED. THE RECENT FIGURES HAVE BEEN:
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
1 11 SEPTEMBER
TOTAL
7,977
8,619
12,686
5,088
DAILY AVERAGE
266
278
409
463
See
3. IF THESE RATES ARE MAINTAINED, OR EVEN IF THEY FALL SOMEWHAT WITH THE COLDER WEATHER, THE 1979 TOTAL OF 90,000 ARRESTS MAY WELL BE SURPASSED THIS YEAR. THE NUMBER WHO EVADE AND STAY ROUGHLY EQUALS THE NUMBER ARRESTED AND WE ARE THEREFORE FACED WITH A TWO PER CENT EXPANSION OF THE POPULATION FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (IN ADDITION TO THE ONE PER CENT EXPANSION PER YEAR FROM LEGAL IMMIGRATION).
4. THIS SITUATION IS FORCING US TO IMPLEMENT THE ''OPERATION CHAMPION''. WE ARE PLANNING ON THIS ASSUMPTION.
5. TO BE SUCCESSFUL WE SHALL NEED SATISFACTORY ASSURANCES FROM THE CHINESE (TO WHICH I HAVE REFERRED IN SEPARATE TELEGRAMS). I THINK IT LIKELY THAT ASSURANCES WOULD BE GIVEN. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IS MORE PROBLEMATICAL. HOWEVER THE CHINESE HAVE SHOWN IN THE PAST THAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF BRINGING DOWN NUMBERS DRAMATICALLY AND THERE IS GOOD REASON TO HOPE THEY CAN DO SO AGAIN. AS THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS ON THEIR SIDE DECLINES THEY ARE BOUND TO RELAX. BY PERSUASION AND EXAMPLE WE SHALL HAVE TO DELAY SUCH RELAXATION OF CHINESE MEASURES FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. THE CRUCIAL FACTOR WILL BE WHETHER, BY THEN, THE DETERRENT EFFECT OF ACTION IN HONG KONG HAS TAKEN ROOT.
6. A MAJOR FACTOR IN THE SUCCESS OF THE MEASURES IN HONG KONG WILL BE PUBLIC SUPPORT. IN THE PAST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAVE ENJOYED SOME PUBLIC SYMPATHY. HOWEVER THERE IS NOW A GROWING FEELING THAT THE TIME HAS COME TO RETURN ALL ILLEGALS. THE
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/GROWING
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