Mr Murrey
PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts
PS
AKK 341/1
RECEIVED IN REUSTRY NO. 51 CGN UP AND78L
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IMMIGRATION INTO HONG KONG
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The Secretary of State commented on my submission of 9 June that we should discuss the immigration issue with the Chinese more frequently than we have in the past. Lord Goronwy-Roberts has asked whether this should be done here, in Hong Kong, or both.
2. The current concern about the numbers of legal immigrants into Hong Kong from China dates back to the autume the present upward trend began. Since then, the Political Adviser to the Governor (a Diplomatic Service Counsellor) has mentioned the problem on four
separate occasions - in January, April, May and June to New China News Agency (NCNA) officials in Hong Kong. (The NCNA is the recognized channel for communications between the Hong Kong Government and the Chinese authorities in Kwangtung Province.) He also raised the matter informally in Peking and Canton when he visited China in May; and HM Ambassador in Peking took the opportunity to speak similarly during the course of an introductory call on the Assistant Foreign Minister responsible for relations with Britain on 23 June.
3. The Chinese response to these approaches has been, in brief,
that they appreciate why the influx causes concern and that they are willing to help. When the question was last raised by the Political Adviser in Hong Kong, the NCNA representative confirmed that the Chinese authorities were considering the problem. But he claimed that the Chinese authorities faced practical difficulties in controlling numbers because authority to grant travel documents was devolved to local level (Hong Kong telegram no. 724). It therefore seems likely
that any measures the Chinese authorities decide on will take some
time to come into effect. In the meantime the number of legal
! immigrants continues to rise: the daily average for the first half of
June was 176 compared with 142 for May. In the Hong Kong view a reasonable level is 50 per day.
4. As regards Lord Goronwy-Roberts' question, I believe that
Hong Kong is the best place to discuss this problem with the Chinese,
CONFIDENTI AL
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