2016
Richard Luce Esq. MP
Minister of State,
SIR PHILIP GOODHARI. M P
义
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OAA
Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Daca Arcikand
ル
い
(1 Balmoothy (this)
༼/ཀ\ ActU、n༼
reply jsc.
June 14th 1985
FA 243/393/1 & FEN, SEAD
56
Ps finance
:)?
Adrienduso
"APS/M、 hie
Thank you for your letter of May 29th about the possibility of moving some Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong to the Philippines.
As you are very well aware, the Japanese record of offering a haven to the Vietnamese refugees is appalling, and for some time there has been a general suggestion that the Japanese were becoming ashamed of their closed door policy - without being willing to admit any appreciable number of Vietnamese refugees themselves.
At the meeting with David Waddington, the suggestion that the Japanese might be prepared to pay for the re-settlement of Vietnamese refugees in a third country came from Richard Needham. I understood at the time that he had had some informal conversation with some senior Japanese financiers who had good connections with the Japanese Government. I discussed this matter briefly with Richard in the Division Lobby the other day, and he is still of the opinion that the Japanese could be persuaded to make a substantial financial contribution.
As for the suggestion that the Philippines might be prepared to allow these refugees to settle there, I discussed this side of the proposition some weeks ago with Mr. Roger Wilson, who has recently taken over as head of the very substantial Jardin Matheson operation in that country. He thought that it might well be possible to get the Philippino Government to agree to a re- settlement scheme, provided that the financial dowry was right, and that in the first instance, the discussions were held discreetly. Clearly, the Philippines do not want to be saddled with the cost and bother of a whole lot of penniless refugees. Offering land for a re-settlement project which would not be a burden to the Philippine taxpayer would, however, be a quite different proposition.
Generally speaking, the Philippinos do not have the same sort of racial antagonisms toward the Vietnamese/Chinese that are an unfortunate fact of life in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. At the same time, the Vietnamese have two assets as far as the Philippino Government is concerned: a), they are anti- Communist, and b), they are not Moslem fundamentalists.
In the first instance, Roger Wilson thought that it would be possible to reach agreement with the Philippinos provided that the initial discussions were kept quiet. But when agreement had been reached, there would clearly be some benefit for the Philippine Government as far as their rather tarnished international image is concerned. President Marcos needs friends, and providing a haven for these unfortunate Vietnamese could only be helpful.
Goceans Exek
12
า