TNAG-0880-FCO40-1090-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 89

(

HKK 243/1

مان

CONFIDENTIAL

Paras 4578400 &

gale

RECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN THE VIETNAMESE AMBASSADOR, MR TRAN HOAN,

AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS AT 5 PM ON TUESDAY 23 JANUARY AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMON- WEALTH OFFICE

Present:

The Rt Hon Dr David Owen MP.

Mr D F Murray, AUSS

Mr JS Wall, APS

Mr C Humfrey, SEAD

Lo

FAX:020/3

Mr Tran Hoan

3

An Interpreter

is

い

4

1. Dr Owen said that he was extremely concerned about certain recent events involving Vietnam. If it had not been for the veto by the Soviet Union, the Security Council would have condemned the manner and nature of Vietnam's attack into Cambodia. The British Government held very strongly to the principle of preserving the territorial integrity of UN member states. We had upheld this principle in many parts of the world. We had taken the lead in criticising aspects of the internal policies of the Cambodian Government. But whatever might be thought of the human rights situation in Cambodia - and Dr Owen said that he had previously mentioned to the Ambassador his concern about aspects of the human rights situation in Vietnam - absolutely nothing justified the flouting of Cambodia's territorial integrity.

ד

·

2. Dr Owen said that the Vietnamese actions had been particularly worrying for him since he and other members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, as back benchers, had been sympathetic to Vietnam when it was fighting for its freedom. The British Government had at that time refused to commit troops to Vietnam and there had been a great deal of support for Vietnam's predicament.

3. Dr Owen stressed how dangerous the UK would regard a situation in which Vietnamese troops might become involved in incidents on the Thai/Cambodian border. The Vietnamese would be well advised to steer clear of such a situation. The sooner they

CONFIDENTIAL

/withdrew