TNAG-0841-FCO40-1050-Visit-of-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-Chi-1979 — Page 76

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CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

also av.

小

HER 341|1.

FM HONG KONG 100945Z APR 79

TO IMMEDIATE F C O

TELEGRAM NUMBER 453 OF 10 APRIL

HKCR 026/3.

RECEIVED IN KROISTA KO

1 1 APR 1979

INDEX

PA

по

20.5.

Action Tikėt

FOR QUANTRILL, HK AND G DEPARTMENT FROM POLITICAL ADVICE.

1. YOU ASKED FOR A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF WHAT WAS SAID ABOUT

IMMIGRATION DURING THE GOVERNOR'S VISIT TO CHINA AND IN ADVANCE

OF THE VARIOUS RECORDS OF CONVERSATION WHICH YOU SAID WOULD NOT

REACH YOU UNTIL THE END OF THIS WEEK.

2. THE GOVERNOR SPOKE ABOUT IMMIGRATION BOTH IN GUANGZHOU AND IN

PEKING (TO DENG HUANG HUA). AT ALL LEVELS HE STRESSED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS SERIOUS. WITH HUANG HUA HE WENT INTO DETAIL, SAYING

THAT THE POSITION NOW WAS ROUGHLY THE SAME AS WHEN DR OWEN RAISED

THE MATTER IN OCTOBER: THAT THE REAL PROBLEM WAS THOSE WHO CLAIMED TO COME ON VISITS AND THEN STAYED (ONLY ABOUT TWO PERCENT RETURNING TO CHINA): AND THAT THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN ILLEGALS,

3. THE CHINESE RESPONSE, NOTABLY FROM DENG, WAS TO RECOGNISE THAT

THE RESULTS OF MEASURES SO FAR TAKEN HAD NOT BEEN SUFFICIENT AND

TO SAY THAT MORE WOULD BE DONE. DENG ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE

REAL ANSWER WAS TO NARROW THE DIFFERENCE IN LIVING STANDARDS

BETWEEN HONG KONG AND CHINA AND THAT THIS COULD BE HELPED BY

GREATER HONG KONG INVESTMENT. THE GOVERNOR POINTED OUT THAT THIS

WAS OF COURSE A LONG TERM SOLUTION WHEREAS WE FACED AN IMMEDIATE

PROBLEM.

4. WHEN THE GOVERNOR SPOKE IN GUANGZHOU ON OUR RETURN ABOUT THE

RECENT MASSIVE INCREASE IN ILLEGALS, THE CHINESE ADMITTED THAT THERE

HAD BEEN A BREAKDOWN OF CONTROL IN SOME AREAS. THEY CONFIRMED

THAT THE MOVEMENT OF ILLEGALS WAS A MUTUAL PROBLEM AND SAID THAT

THEY WOULD BE TAKING FURTHER MEASURES TO DEAL WITH IT.

5. IN BOTH GUANGZHOU AND PEKING THE GOVERNOR STRESSED THAT

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WAS A PROBLEM WHICH WE WISHED TO DEAL WITH

BY MUTUAL CO-OPERATION, HE SUGGESTED THAT AN EARLY MEETING OF

OFFICIALS WOULD BE HELPFUL. YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THAT HE ALSO

MADE THIS POINT PUBLICLY IN HIS PRESS CONFERENCE ON 6 APRIL.

CONFIDENTIAL

THE