· 4 ·
immigrants unless something is done.
is also symbolic at another level.
But the issue
For while the
Vietnamese refugees are permitted to land in Hong
Kong, Chinese mainlanders are not. If caught crossing
the border, they are detained and sent back.
Moreover, the Vietnamese refugees are not covered
under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Their status in 1997, if they are still in the
territory, is undefined. If it is not seen to be
tackled effectively, the refugee issue will almost
certainly be perceived as a symbol of Britain's weak
commitment.
The government's present difficulty is due to the
fact that several such issues have succeeded one
another in recent months, The construction of a Chinese
nuclear power plant at Bias Bay to the north of Hong Kong, handling of censorship legislation in 1987,
proposals for political reform contained in last
year's Green Paper and, most recently, Britain's
unwillingness to reduce Hong Kong's share of defence
expenditure in the territory.
In each case, the issue was seen as a test of Britain's
commitment to Hong Kong rather than taken as a single
political question. And this is why it will not be
enough for the Foreign Secretary merely to state his
determination, last weekend, to work for Hong Kong's