CONFIDENTIAL
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135347
MDHIAN 6735
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1733
OF 29110OZ MAY 89
INFO IMMEDIATE UKMIS GENEVA, WASHINGTON
INFO PRIORITY CANBERRA, OTTAWA, PARIS, PEKING, TOKYO
INFO PRIORITY HANOI, UKMIS NEW YORK, ASEAN POSTS
MY TELNO 1694: VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
1 748 VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE ARRIVED YESTERDAY. THIS IS THE HIGHEST DAILY FIGURE FOR TEN YEARS. 455 HAVE ARRIVED SO FAR TODAY (4PM LOCAL TIME) AND FOUR MORE BOATS ARE ABOUT TO ENTER.
2. WE HAVE NOW HAD ALMOST 8,000 ARRIVALS SO FAR IN MAY, AND 12,000 SO FAR THIS YEAR. OUR ACCOMMODATION IS STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT: WE ARE HAVING TO PREPARE OPEN GROUND FOR TENTED ACCOMMODATION FOR UPTO 3,000 PEOPLE.
3. TWO SEPARATE DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE CONTINUED INFLUX OF VIETNAMESE TOOK PLACE OVER THE WEEKEND: BY ABOUT 1,000 PEOPLE IN TUEN MUN AND 500 AT FANLING (OUTSIDE MY WEEKEND HOUSE). IN EACH CASE THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE PROTEST WAS A PROPOSAL TO ACCOMMODATE MORE VBP LOCALLY: THE TUEN MUN PROTESTORS DEMANDED THE ENDING OF THE FIRST ASYLUM POLICY AND THE REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE. THESE MAY SEEM SMALL DEMONSTRATIONS BY THE STANDARDS OF RECENT WEEKS (OVER 600,000 WERE DEMONSTRATING ELSEWHERE ABOUT EVENTS IN CHINA) BUT, IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE, THEY ARE PROBABLY A FIRST TASTE OF MORE PUBLIC PRESSURE TO COME.
WILSON
YYYY
ΜΑΙΝ
96
DISTRIBUTION
102
.VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HK
LIMITED
HKD
NEWS
RMD
PS
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