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2.
Mr Cushing said he fully understood the
difficulties, because America shared them. In another month or so they would have accepted some 600,000 refugees from South-East Asia since 1975; they had their own IIs, from Mexico; and had had to cope with an influx of 150,000 Cubans, as well as the Haitian boat people. All this added up to increasing political difficulties; and it was easier to do something about people who were selected outside American borders than about those who
walked, swam or sailed straight in. The reaction of some sections of American public opinion exactly paralleled what S for S had said about Hong Kong's why were money and facilities being laid out for these uninvited and unwelcome guests ? Those in charge of refugee resettle- ment in America not only had to do something positive to affect the flow, but needed to clearly seen to do it.
He hoped, and believed, that the measures Ambassador Vine had described to us (on 6 March) would benefit Hong Kong in the end though Mr Levin recognised that this might
only start to happen after "a difficult and disagreeable
6 months or a year" for Hong Kong.
3.
PA asked about the Americans' plans to publicise their new restrictive measures. Mr Cushing explained that they were faced with the difficulty of getting the
message through to Vietnam, without alarming Governments
or public opinion in the more erratic first asylum countries. Asking particularly not to be quoted, Mr Cushing said however that he was "quite confident we will make an announcement", though probably not until after the Malaysian elections due towards the end of April.
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