TNAG-0888-FCO40-1098-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 58

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Mr Will of Mr Haddon - Cave'? bemantes questionable. RECORD OF ACT VERSARION BETWEEN THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR

FORE AND ONWEALTH AFFAIRS AND THE HONG KONG FINANCIAL SECRETARY HELD AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE AT 4.00 pm ON 31 MAY 1979

Present:

Mr PAR Blaker MP

Mr P J Williamson, HKGD

Mr C P Haddon-Cave CMG

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1. Mr Blaker welcomed Mr Haddon-Cave and said that the Government was very concerned about the number of refugees from Vietnam and immigrants from China in Hong Kong.

2. Mr Haddon-Cave said that he was surprised that the internation- ally accepted status of the Vietnamese boat people as "refugees"

had not been challenged. They certainly did not fit into the normal definition of refugees. They had left their country voluntarily and ? with the agreement of their government. Nonetheless, they were

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accepted by the international community as being refugees and there- fore as their responsibility.

3. Mr Blaker said that it was inevitable that the world should take pity on these people because they arrived generally in second countries in leaky boats and because they had apparently been pushed

out of Vietnam.

4.

The

Mr Haddon-Cave said that, although they were described as ethnic Chinese, the boat people were no longer Chinese. Even Hong Kong, with its long tradition of accepting immigrants, was capable of intolerance. He sensed a growing exasperation in Hong Kong. boat people were not pleasant; they were tough, middle-class and frequently had a military background. It was essential that they were kept locked up. Hong Kong could not afford a large Vietnamese minority community of say 150,000 200,000. If it did, there would undoubtedly be serious trouble. Hong Kong had the highest

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/population