TNAG-0883-FCO40-1093-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 64

IN-HOUSE TRANSLATION

Reference...

Many thanks for sending me a copy of the speech made in the House of Lords by Lord Goronwy Roberts on the subject of the refugee problem in Hong Kong.

I can only confirm - and would be grateful if you could pass this information on to the Foreign Office, that the Hong Kong authorities have done everything in their power and still are doing so, in order to improve the lot of these unfortunate people.

I know and have on several occasions made my views known to the Fress, that the humanitarian attitude of your government in Hong Kong has led to a heavy burden being carried by the Crown Colony.

For this reason I am especially glad that Dr wallmann made his offer to the Hong Kong authorities to resettle 310 refugees in Frankfurt and Offenbach.

The support given to me by your government in Hong Kong enabled me to carry out this task with the greatest possible speed. The operation could scarcely have been carried through so successfully without this support. For this reason I am especially grateful to you.