TNAG-0663-FCO40-812-Immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 88

CONFIDENTIAL

BY BAG

H

RECEIVED IN

18 MAR 1977

PO. 51

15 March 1977

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CR 34/2091/74

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NXK 341/301

JP MILLINGTON ESQ

British Embassy

Washington

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Thank you for your letter of 2 March asking for advice on how to reply to a complaint which you have received about the Hong Kong Government's policy towards illegal immigrants from China.

2.

As I am sure you will realise, this is a subject fraught with political pitfalls and not having seen the letter of complaint itself, it is somewhat difficult for me to give you specific advice. You should however be aware that there has been a steady flow of complaints co-ordinated by the Free China Relief Association based in Taipei. For obvious reasons, this Association has been anxious to embarrass us, and by extension the Communists, at every opportunity. I cannot tell whether the letter you have received may or may not have been prompted by some action on the part of this or similar pro-K M T lobby groups, but the fact that you have used the words "refugees" and "refugee status", presumably copying them from the letter, suggests that its inspiration may well have come from Taivan, since these words are in themselves politically loaded in favour of the X HT view of what we prefer to call illegal immigration from China. The fact that the letter was signed by a "simple" member of the public also suggests that the writer may have wished to conceal his connections.

3.

On the other hand, it is possible that the inspiration for the complaint may have come from a "human rights"-connected group, e.g. Amnesty. Such bodies have also from time to time queried our policy on illegal immigrants from China, although being on the whole more inclined to protest against Right-wing than Left-wing inhumanity, their objections have been more muted than those of the pro-Taiwan organisations. As one of our cynics here put it: "if you approve of China, how can it be a sin to return people to paradise?"

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