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to provide a period of relative calm in which more progress could be made on a comprehensive settlement.
Indo Chinese Refugees
9. The Secretary of State described the present situation as regards Hong Kong and Vietnamese refugees. He said that although the problem was not as accute as it had been, it had by no means disappeared. We had spoken to the Chinese about refugees reaching Hong Kong from the south, overland. (Some Chinese were no doubt making money out of it.) They had not been receptive. Basically, their view was that Hong Kong should not have granted first asylum. They were very clear that they did not want there to be refugees in Hong Kong come 1997. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese were dickering about any future non-voluntary repatriations. This was only to be expected given the US attitude and the fact that for the Vietnamese the US was the prize. Senator Evans said that for the first time boat loads of Cambodian refugees had reached Australia, "pushed off" by Indonesia. This was a cause for concern and had the potential to become a major problem. The Australias had spoken to the Indonesians but it was clear that the Indonesian military had decided on a policy of "pushing off" such refugees.
UK Arms Sales to Australia's Wider Region
10. Senator Evans said the Secretary of State would be aware that the Australians had raised this subject with us. Most recently it had come up in the conversation between the Prime Minister and Mr Hawke at Gallipoli. Mr Hawke had narrowed the focus of the Australian request. Senator Evans stressed that Australia "was not asking for more than an improved information flow." He hoped we would take Australian concerns seriously. Subsequently he commented that the earlier, more sweeping, Australian requests had been Defence Department driven. The Secretary of State said the matter was still with MOD Ministers. When it reached him he would look at it from an FCO angle, and discuss it with the Defence Secretary. would then give the Australians a reasoned reply.
Reunification of Germany and Related Security Arrangements
11.
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At Senator Evans's request, the Secretary of State described how reunification of Germany was likely to take place and the likely accompanying security arrangements. He touched very briefly on Mr Gorbachev's position, developments in the Soviet Union, and the Lithuanian Prime Minister's visit to London.
European Union
12. Senator Evans said he had the impression that the rhetoric of opposition to EMU in the UK had subsided. The Secretary of State said this was not the case. The British Government had said the same thing all along. Sometimes it was interpreted in a negative light, sometimes in a positive one. The Prime Minister stood absolutely by the Madrid Statement. This had identified conditions which needed to be fulfilled, external and internal. At the moment
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