LETTER
The Ft Hon Sir Geoffrey Howe QC MP
House of Commons
Secretary of State
Thank you for your letter of 6 July with which you
enclosed one from your constituent, Mr R C Thornton,
about the Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong.
Mr Thornton is right in saying that Hong Kong owes
its present prosperity to a high rate of immigration in the
past. But the vast majority of these immigrants have
come from the neighbouring provinces of China. Hong Kong
has no choise but to accept people from China (unless they
are caught trying to enter the territoryillegally, when they
are returned). Provided the numbers are kept within
reasonable bounds, such immigrants are generally welcomed
by the local population. But the flow of people during
the last 18 months has been on a scale which has threatened
to undermine all that the Hong Kong Government has achieved
in housing and social development over the past decade.
As you know, the Government recently agreed to provide
reinforcements for the garrison in Hong Kong to help stem
the flood of illegal immigrants. Our action seems to have
stimulated the Chinese to take effective measures themselves,
and I am glad to say that the last two weeks have seen a
marked reduction in the numbers of illegal immigrants
arrested. Nevertheless the Hong Kong population has been
swollen by more than 200,000 people from China since the
beginning of last year, and there are still far too many
/people
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.