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INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON
428
075024 MDHIAN 2037
FOLLOWING FOR MCLAREN, AUSS AND PAUL HKD FROM GOVERNOR
LEGCO DEBATE ON FAC REPORT: CHIEF SECRETARY'S SPEECH
FOLLOWING IS A DRAFT OF THE TEXT OF THE CHIEF SECRETARY'S SPEECH
IN LEGCO THIS AFTERNOON.
SIR,
THE LONG AWAITED FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT GIVES US SUBSTANTIAL COMFORT ON THE VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE ISSUE AND ON HUMAN RIGHTS, IT HAS SOME STIMULATING SUGGESTIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY BUT IS VERY DISAPPOINTING ON THE NATIONALITY ISSUE.
I WILL TOUCH BRIEFLY ON EACH OF THESE ISSUES.
IT IS NO MEAN ACHIEVEMENT TO HAVE SECURED THE WHOLEHEARTED SUPPORT OF THE FAC FOR OUR POLICY ON VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE. UNTIL THE MEMBERS
OF THE FAC CAME TO HONG KONG IT WAS DIFFICULT ENOUGHT TO PERSUADE ANY BACKBENCH MP IN THE UNITED KINGDOM THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM OVER
THE VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET THEM TO
ACCEPT
THAT PARLIAMENT SHOULD BE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THE STATEMENT IN THE CONCLUSION OF THE REPORT, I QUOTE ''WE BELIEVE THAT, IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY SIGNIFICANT LEVELS OF VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION HOWEVER REGRETABLE IT MAY BE, THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO MANDATORY REPATRIATION OF THOSE WHO ARE SCREENED OUT'' REPRESENTS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN GAINING UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF OUR POLICY. WE ARE MOST GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT BUT IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT IT
WOULD NOT HAVE COME ABOUT HAD WE NOT PUT OUR CASE TO THEM CLEARLY AND STRONGLY.
I TURN NOW TO THE QUESTION OF POLITICAL REFORM. THE FAC REPORT MAKES
QUITE RADICAL PROPOSALS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG UP TO 1997. BUT IN MAKING THESE PROPOSALS THE REPORT STRESSES, I QUOTE '' WE ALSO BELIEVE EVEN MORE STRONGLY THAT
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