CODE 18-77
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RECORD OF CALL ON CARDINAL ETCHEGARAY
1.
I called on Cardinal Etchegaray this morning. I said that on many issues dealt with by his Commissions of Justice and Peace and Cor Unum, HMG's position had much in common with that of the Holy See. The Cardinal agreed. When I mentioned Eastern Europe, he said that the Ottawa meeting had not, he understood from the Holy See Delegation there, been a brilliant success. I said we agreed, but I drew on the recent Guidance telegram, and said that we felt it important that the signatories of the Helsinki Final Act should be measured against the commitments which they had undertaken. The Cardinal agreed, but did not seem to have much hope for the Eastern Europeans to change their line.
2. On aid, I mentioned HMG's relief effort in Ethiopia and Sahel region. I also told the Cardinal about Brigadier Mornement's forthcoming work in Chad. I asked whether he could call on those concerned in the Vatican to discuss the position before he left, and the Cardinal suggested that he should telephone his Secretary, Monsignor du Noyer (telephone 698.4831/4556)
3. The Cardinal referred to his visit to South East Asia, including Hong Kong, to look at the refugee situation. The Hong Kong authorities had been helpful, and he understood that the boat people could not in general expect to be settled in Hong Kong. The number of refugees in the camps there was down from 60,000 to 12,000, but some of these were hard-core cases, and their relocation could well be very difficult. Some of the camps were open, but some were closed and conditions were rigorous there, like a prison. As the Cardinal had mentioned that he had been in correspondence with Cardinal Hume, I asked if he had made representations about these camp conditions. He said he had not: it was not his function. But he quoted a phrase he had heard, that a hard régime for refugees in Hong Kong acted as a "human deterrent" Yet people still continued to prefer to live in those camps in Hong Kong rather than as ordinary people in Vietnam. I referred to the attempts that the UK had made to absorb Vietnamese refugees, and said that unfortunately they had not all succeeded in adapting very well to the very different climate, language, social and cultural circumstances, etc. The Cardinal did not dispute this: he mentioned the large number taken by the USA, Canada, Australia and France.
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4. If we have any substantial good news of any sort about Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong (or the UK), I should like to pass it on to Cardinal Etchegaray.
5. The Cardinal, whom I asked about China, said that it would obviously be helpful if the Holy See could have some dealings with China, which was such a populous country. Events such as Cardinal Sin's visit to Peking and the reciprocal visit by "patriotic associations" to Manila were, he thought, steps in the process towards accord. He expected that there would be more such progress. One of these days very interesting facts would emerge about the undergroun
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