CONFIDENTIAL
147533
MDHIAN 7860
5. I TOLD HIM THAT I THOSGHT THAT THE BRITISH AND HONG KONG GOVERNMENTS WOULD ONLY LOOK SYMPATHETICALLY ON VIETNAM'S NEEDS ONCE AND NOT BEFORE ORP II HAD BEEN UP AND RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY FOR A REASONABLE PERIOD. ANY QUESTION OF A COMMITMENT FOR HMG AND HONG KONG TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE BEFORE THAT WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION. I ALSO POINTED OUT THE GRAVE DANGER THAT, WHEN OUR FAILURE TO AGREE ON ORP II MODALITIES BECAME KNOWN, AS IT INEVITABLY WOULD, THE ILLEGAL OUTFLOW WOULD INCREASE, THE RATE OF VOLUNTEERING WOULD DECLINE AND UK/HONG KONG/VIETNAM RELATIONS IN ALL FIELDS
WOULD SUFFER.
6.
I AM RETURNING TO SEE BIN AT 1600 (LOCAL) TODAY TO SEE IF
I CAN CHANGE THEIR MINDS BUT ON PRESENT ODDS IT LOOKS AS IF THIS SUBJECT WILL NOT BE RESOLVED BEFORE LORD CAITHNESS' VISIT. AS A CONTINGENT DEFENSIVE PRESS LINE I SUGGEST WE DEPLOY (WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION) PARAGRAPH 3 OF THE STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING OF 29 OCTOBER AND REFER TO ONGOING DISCUSSIONS ON THE DETAILS OF
IMPLEMENTATION.
WILLIAMS
YYYY
MAIN
127
.VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS IN HK
LIMITED
SEAD
LEGAL ADVISERS
PUSD
INFO D
ECD (E)
FINANCE D
FED
HKD
NAD
NEWS D
RMD
UND
EMAD/ODA
ADDITIONAL
8
VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS IN HK
NNNN
DISTRIBUTION
135
EAPD/ODA
HD/ECFAD/ODA
PS
PS/MRS CHALKER
PS/LORD CAITHNESS
PS/MR LENNOX-BOYD
PS/PUS
SIR J COLES
MR AINSCOW
MR BONE
MR MUIR
MR BURNS
MR FREEMAN
MR KERBY
MR MANNING
PAGE
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CONFIDENTIAL