From The Minister of State
copy for information,
fou
See
Other
papers 88/243/2
133
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
12 February 1988
HRB 011/1
fear Roger,
Thank you for your letter to Geoffrey Howe of
2 February in which you raise two matters relating to Hong Kong.
On direct elections I would like to thank you for the helpful comments you made in the House on 10 February in support of the decision, announced in the Hong Kong Government's White Paper, that these should be introduced in 1991. As the Foreign Secretary's statement made clear, we believe that this is a balanced and reasonable response to the views of people in Hong Kong.
On the problem of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong I have taken very careful note of what you say, and of your personal interest in this matter. We are naturally fully aware of our responsibilities towards Hong Kong and I am grateful for your acknowledgement of what we have already done and are doing to tackle the problem. Our decision in May 1987 to accept a further 468 is evidence of our continuing commitment to resettlement and we have been appealing to other countries to follow our example. We will persist in these efforts. On the question of new resettlement commitments, I have to say that, whilst we deeply sympathise with the refugees' plight, our commitments have been extended as far as possible at present. Nor have the Home Office any plans to extend their criteria for resettlement beyond those with family
links.
Roger Sims Esq JP MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SWIA OAA
/We