TNAG-0587-FCO40-720-Aid-from-UK-for-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 185

020/332/1

D Warren Esq

South East Asia Department Foreign & Commonwealth Office London SW1.

Dear Damin,

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BRITISH EMBASSY

RANGOON

30 July 1976

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VISIT TO BURMA OF MR PHAN HIEN, VIETNAMESE DEPUTY 7048.

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

1. Mr Phan Hien, accompanied by four officials, visited Burma from 20 to 24 July on the last leg of his South East Asian goodwill tour."

2. In a statement issued on his departure, Mr Phan Hien claimed that his friendship visit had been very successful; that the discussions he had had with Burmese Ministers and officials covered trade relations, the Colombo non-aligned conference and Vietnam's rela- tions with other countries in South-East Asia.

3. The delegation had the usual audiences with the Foreign Minister, and unusually with the Prime Minister but not, of course, with the President. They were given rather more than would be expected for a delega- tion headed by a Deputy Foreign Minister. They were taken on the conventional tourist circuit of the coun- try and the State-controlled newspapers faithfully reported each day's activities.

4. As usual, the Burmese have said nothing publicly about the substance of the various meetings they had with the delegation nor their attitude to Vietnam. They are seldom forthcoming on these occasions and in the aftermath of the Captains' Plot, even less so. They are now pre-occupied with their own internal prob- lems.

In normal times we have to do most of our ferret- ing at social functions because the officials with whom we deal are reluctant to say anything worthwhile in their offices with a note-taker present. Today, in the current atmosphere of suspicion and fear, the instincts of self-preservation are paramount and little will be said on political subjects that has not been sanctioned at a very high level. In short, beyond reporting the fact that Mr Phan Hion and his delegation did come here we have little of consequence to offer. I am not therefore copying this letter to other South

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