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The British authorities are facing, as a result,
a particularly difficult test: How can they show
they will stand by Hong Kong when they have lccked
themselves into a process of private negotiation
with China and are prevented by the Sino-British
Joint Declaration from taking independent policy
initiatives?
The case of the Vietnamese refugees, now a burning
issue in the territory, illustrates how almost any
controversy can fuel debate about Britain's
commitment during the transition. Hong Kong has
been taking refugees since the late 1970s, but has
been putting them in closed camps
that is to say
camps run on penal lines for the last few years.
Hong Kong legislators and officials have been calling
upon the British to take steps to reduce numbers.
But while the rate of resettlement has fallen, the
inflow has increased. There are now thirteen thousand
Vietnamese locked up in Hong Kong camps, largely
paid for by Hong Kong public funds.
Britain blames Vietnam for the exodus, but currently
accepts no more than twenty named refugees per month,
a number considered derisory in Hong Kong and
insufficient to persuade other Western governments
to take more themselves.
Last month, the Legislative
Council threatened to imprison refugees as illegal
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