It is well known that we had a difficult year of negotiations with the Chinese. John Major showed with his visit to Peking last September that he was ready to make a
very personal effort in order to achieve an agreement which he knew was needed by Hong Kong. We achieved a good agreement, in which China clearly undertook to support the
project.
The surge in confidence following the agreement on the airport has shown again that Hong Kong flourishes best when
there is a co-operative relationship with Peking.
I am delighted to see that work is now going ahead quickly
at Chep Lap Kok and look forward to hearing more about
progress on this exciting project during my visit.
I know that Vietnamese Boat People is another subject of great concern in Hong Kong. I have visited most of the
camps, and have listened to the views of many in Hong Kong. I have seen for myself the enormous burden which Hong Kong has carried and continues to carry, and the compassion and practical good sense which all those involved have brought
to the task. We were all saddened by the tragic consequences of the upsurge of violence at Shek Kong over the lunar new year holiday.
Here again, Britain and Hong Kong have been working together. Last year it became clear that the only way to get things moving on repatriation would be direct negotiations with the Vietnamese Government. I have myself been deeply involved in those negotiations over the last few
months. We have now started on the enormous task of
returning non-volunteers: and as a result we now have a much
faster rate of voluntary returns, nearly 2000 in both November and December last year, compared with an average of
500 a month in the first 10 months of 1991. And arrivals
have dropped dramatically: 45 in November and December last year, compared with 20,163 during the first 10 months. As
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