TNAG-0890-FCO40-1100-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 254

with HKK 243/1

DRAFT LETTER FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S SIGNATURE

The Lord Inverforth

Bank Line Ltd

Baltic Exchange Buildings

21 Bury Street

London EC3A SAU

Thank you for your letter of 6 June. I am of course conscious

of the frustrations facing your Company and the Master and

crew of the ROACHBANK. However, as you know from your

experience in the region, we are faced with considerable

difficulty in communicating with Taiwanese officials to

persuade them to give temporary asylum to the refugees on

the ROACHBANK.

I can assure you that we are making every endeavour to persuade

the Taiwanese to accept their responsibilities and allow the

refugees to land. As you know there is some indication that

they may be prepared to do this.