will have helped to reassure Chinese that project is financially feasible.
-
Hong Kong Government will continue to keep Chinese closely
informed on progress of projects and has agreed to continue
to have further talks at expert level if Chinese would find
this useful.
-
Finally, a word about Vietnamese Boat People.
This year
the problem has been much less acute. Although there are
still over 53,000 Vietnamese Boat People in the territory,
the number arriving has been considerably less than last
year over 80% down and there has been a steady flow of
departures. Nearly 5,000 have now returned to Vietnam and
there has been no evidence that they have been in any way
persecuted or maltreated. A further 6,000 with refugee
status have also been permanently resettled this year.
- Our objective now is to accelerate this outflow. We have been pursuing two approaches. First, we have reached agreement with the Philippine Government to transfer 5,000 refugees to Bataan and hope to do so by the end of the year.
Second, we have come to an agreement with Vietnamese
Government, also involving UNHCR, to accelerate rate of return of all non-refugees to 1,500 a month, with aim of emptying camps in Hong Kong by end of 1992.
- To sum up, while we certainly do not underestimate the
difficulties and uncertainties facing Hong Kong in the
coming years, it is clear that the territory is facing up to
them with characteristic resilience. Our own determination
to fulfil our responsibilities towards Hong Kong is as
strong as ever. Hope that our friends and partners as well as international business community will also continue to
demonstrate their confidence in Hong Kong's future.
NEWAAL/5