ESSENTIAL FACTS
1.
Tran Quang Co is Second Deputy Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and an alternate member of the CPV Central Committee.
He is regarded as a heavyweight in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, though small and frail in appearance. He is reputed to be the Ministry's expert on Cambodia. Tran Quang Co is fundamentally tough but an agreeable and easy interlocutor. He speaks English but it is important to speak slowly and clearly when making key points.
CAMBODIA
2.
The Working Group established at the JIM is due to meet, for the first time, in October. However, little headway seems likely until after the Sihanouk/Hun Sen meeting in Paris in November.
3. There has been no vote on Cambodian credentials at the UN since 1982. But, following his resignation as president of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) in July, Sihanouk suggested that the Cambodian seat at the UN should be left vacant. He has since said that he will not press this idea, but the Vietnamese may raise it. An empty seat formula could create an unwelcome precedent and would be presented by the Vietnamese as a propaganda coup.
4. During Mr Gillmore's talks in Moscow earlier this month Deputy Foreign Minister Rogachev said that a more conciliatory UNGA resolution which reflected recent developments (eg. Vietnam's announced troop withdrawals) would facilitate involvement by the UN Secretary General and the Security Council in the Cambodia problem.
A 5. Mr Co might hand over the original of a letter from his
Foreign Minister asking HMG to support the results of the JIM and the "agreements" between Hun Sen and Sihanouk. copy has already been given to UKMIS New York.
BOAT PEOPLE
A
6. There are now 25,000 Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong compared with 9,000 a year ago. About 9,500 have arrived since the introduction of the new policy on 16 June. The number of arrivals fell during the first weeks of September. This is encouraging but may be due to weather conditions rather than measures taken by the Vietnamese to stem the outflow.
7.
The Secretary of State raised the issue with Foreign Minister Thach in June and the Vietnamese subsequently offered to hold bilateral talks with HMG/HKG. The first
MR4ADM