(Revised)
minute/letter/teleletter/despatch/note
DRAFT:
FROM:
LORD BELSTEAD
DEPARTMENT:
SECRETARY OF STATE
452
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION]
TO:
Top Secret
Secret
Confidential
Restricted
Unclassified
TEL. NO:
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES IN HONG KONG
PRIVACY MARKING
SUBJECT:
.......................In Confidence
CAVEAT...................
A
1.
TYPE: Draft/Final 1+
Reference
Your Reference
Copies to:
B
C
Enclosures-flag(s)...........
Paragraph 9 of my minute of 27 January discussed
the difficulties that would arise from the repatriation
of Vietnamese refugees. You asked that we consult the
Ambassador in Hanoi before instructing him to make any
approach to the Vietnamese.
2.
Mr Pike has advised that the Vietnamese still seem
determined to punish any repatriates, and that it would
be hard to give credence to any assurances they might
offer on their treatment. He believes that there is also
a real risk that the Vietnamese would exploit our
position as demandeurs to obtain matching concessions.
These points are valid, but they are only part of the
case.
3.
I saw the Governor of Hong Kong on 10 March.
We discussed repatriation. He urged that the Ambassador
in Hanoi should be instructed to probe Vietnamese
CONFIDENTIAL
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