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Hong Kong, including Boat People
8.
Turning to Hong Kong, Mr Maude thought that a consensus
was returning on this in the UK. There were three big
issues. First, how to develop a democracy in Hong Kong
which could endure after the transfer to China. The problem was that hitherto Hong Kong had had no interest in politics. It had enjoyed the advantages of democracy but without the
disadvantages of politicians. Now there was some realisation that democracy and politics were of use and
steps were being taken to form structures acceptable to
China. The second issue was Vietnamese boat people. It was
not widely understood just how intense a problem this was.
Vietanamese boat people already comprised 1% of the population of Hong Kong. Migrants were still coming to Hong Kong, although at a slower rate. The non-voluntary repatriation of boat people the previous December had been designed to send a clear message to the North Vietnamese
that Hong Kong was no land of milk and honey. To some
extent this had been understood in the North. He hoped that it was now also understood by people in South Vietnam. people were in deep poverty, they were unable to migrate, but when they were slightly better off then migration became
a possibility. As Vietnam fought off poverty, so migration
would increase. The move towards a market economy could
make the problem worse.
9.
When
The third issue was building confidence in Hong Kong
after the events last year in Tiananmen Square. Efforts were being made to try to stem the number of people leaving Hong Kong to qualify for right of abode elsewhere. The United Kingdom had offered 50,000 heads of family United
Kingdom citizenship. This was designed to keep key people in Hong Kong by providing them with an assurance of a safe haven should it be required. Other countries were looking
at similar schemes. Some multinational companies were offering key employees the possibility of entry into the
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