ROYAKX
CONFIDENTIAL
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE:
COAST HOPPING DRAFT MESSAGE FROM
THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO QIAN QICHEN
When we met in Tokyo on 24 February we discussed the serious
problem of Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong. Since then, the
situation has deteriorated. More than 2,400 boat people have
arrived in Hong Kong so far this year, over double the level for the
same period in 1988. Unless urgent steps are taken, many thousands
more will arrive in the coming months when weather conditions favour the journey from Vietnam. This is a prospect which I and the
Governor of Hong Kong view with deep concern.
It is a fact that most of the boat people now in Hong Kong
have been helped in the course of their journey at points along the
Chinese coast. Without such assistance, they could not have reached
the territory, and Hong Kong would not have the problem which it now
faces.
I am well aware of the difficulties which the Chinese
authorities face in discouraging such assistance and am grateful
for the measures already taken. It is however clear from
information obtained from recent Vietnamese arrivals in Hong Kong that help is still being given. We are passing detailed information
on cases of this sort through the Embassy in Peking and through the
NCNA in Hong Kong.
We have recently suggested a number of steps which might be
taken by the Chinese authorities. These include issuing
instructions to officials in the ports concerned that boat people
should not be given assistance to continue their journey to Hong
Kong and that they should be warned of Hong Kong's firm policy of
screening and detention, pending repatriation to Vietnam. We have also suggested that it might be useful if Chinese broadcasts aimed at Vietnam could convey a similar message.
The seriousness of the situation in Hong Kong now calls for
further joint efforts to stem the flow of boat people. I believe
that the time has come for China to accept responsibility for those
CONFIDENTIAL
Page 30Page 31