RESORT CUT:27).
British Embassy PEKING
36A
21 May 1981
I, C Orr Reg ATA
HONG KONG
Dew hin
THE REFUGEE CONVENTION AND PROTOCOL.
spoke ta
263
CHINESE ACCESSION
I Jacques Mouchet, UNHCR representative here on 20 May He confirmed to me that China intended to ancede to the Convention and Protocol but that the matter had not yet. been put hafore the Standing Committee. The Ministry of Foreig Affairs had told him that accession would be authorised "very ༩༨༢n!།
(Mouchat speculated that China might be waiting for Japan to take the plunge first. Since Israel and Tran are the only two Asian countries to have acceded so far, China might prefer not to join such awkward company alone!
4
2.
Mouchet folt that there were three main reasons for China's wishing to arcade. In the first place, their existing policy was based upon a provision in their constitution for anyone suffering persecution in his own country to come to China. Mouchet gave me an example of an Uraguayan family, who had beens resident in Ancerting; when life there had become difficult for them they had applied to go to France, but they had not been accepted. A chance acquaintance in the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires had offered them asylum in China, and they had now been in Peking for five veand. So accession to the Convention and Protocol would be a rationalisation of Chinese policy. Furthermore it would not place any burdens on the Chinese which they did not almondy nappy. They already accepted mice numbers of pofurees from Vietnam some 265,000 so far. Indeed, they more than met the requirement of the Convention at Protocol that refugees be treated as well as other resident aliens, for in fact Chine treated them as well as (and sometimes rather better. than) she treated her own nationals.
X
A second factor in the Chinese decision had been the development of rood relations with UNHCR. INHCR had not pressed Ching to accede, but they "always requested that a country should Join". Accession was a logical
between Chine and Hool step in the growing cooperation
Ching attended all FCR Executive Dlammikkop mantinere and played ap active part in them
@hirdly, Chinese accession should be seen in the broader context of the peneral Chinese desire to accede to UN conventions and conclude bilateral and multilateral agreements, It was part of her opening up and playing a full part as a
RESORTCODEN
/member