TNAG-0896-FCO40-1106-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 220

ملا

30950

UNCLASSIFIED

FM HONG KONG 140305Z AUG 79

TO ROUTINE BONN

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HKK 943/1

1563

RECEIVED IN RECAY NO. 51 15 AUG 1979

RECISTRY

Actio. Takur

INDEX

Ma

TELNO.5 OF 14 AUGUST,

INFO: F.C.0, H.K.GOVT OFFICE LONDON, CANBERRA, OTTAWA, WASHINGTON, UKMIS GENEVA, UKMIS NEW YORK AND SUBORDINATE POSTS OF CAPITALS

ADDRESSSED.

MIPIS VIETNAMESE REFUCEES IN HONG KONG.

pee/i706

FOLLOWING IS TEXT, BEGINS:

(A) THE CONTEXT:

1.

HONG KONG HAS A TOTAL AREA OF JUST OVER 1,000 SQUARE KILO- METERS (ABOUT 400 SQUARE MILES) AND A POPULATION OF NEARLY FIVE MILLION PEOPLE. MUCH OF THE MAIN LAND AREA IS STEEP, UNPRODUCTIVE HILLSIDE, AND MANY OF THE COLONY'S 263 ISLANDS ARE BARREN. THE OVERALL DENSITY OF POPULATION PER SQUARE KILOMETER IS 4,487, (THE DENSITY FOR HONG KONG ISLAND, KOWLOON AND TSUEN WAN, WHERE MOST OF THE POPULATION LIVES, IS 25,400 PER SQUARE KILOMETER. ONE AREA OF KOWLOON HAS ABOUT 144,000 INHABITANTS PER SQUARE KILOMETER: EIGHT TIMES THAT OF TOKYO) IN 1946 THE POPULATION WAS 1.5 MILLION: IN 30 YEARS IT HAS MULTIPLIED MORE THAN THREE TIMES, BRINGING SEVERE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PRESSURES.

2. 40% OF HONG KONG'S POPULATION IS UNDER 29, AND WITH THE NUMBER OF WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE INCREASING, PRESSURES ON THE

SOCIAL SERVICES ARE LIKELY TO BECOME EVEN GREATER.

3.

HONG KONG HAS NO NATURAL RESOURCES: IT HAS ONLY THE ENERGIES

AND RESOURCEFULNESS OF ITS PEOPLE, AND ITS HARBOUR, IT HAS TO IMPORT VIRTUALLY ALL ITS FOOD, 25% OF ITS WATER, AND ALL THE RAW MATERIALS FOR ITS INDUSTRY. ONLY 10% OF THE LAND IS SUITABLE FOR

FARMING.

ADDING TO THE NATURAL GROWTH OF THE PAST 30 YEARS HAVE BEEN

SEVERAL WAVES OF LARGE-SCALE IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA, IN THE 20

YEAR PER100 AFTER 1949 MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE CROSSED THE BORDER FROM CHINA INTO HONG KONG. DURING THE LAST 18 MONTHS ALONE,

LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE ADDED OVER 200,000 PEOPLE TO HONG KONG'S POPULATION.