TNAG-0904-FCO40-1114-Immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 100

CONFIDENTIAL

GR 910

CONFIDENTIAL

ESKBY FCO 161100Z

PEKING 161130Z

FM HONG KONG 161035Z FEB 79

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A COPY See

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THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN RETAINED IN THE DEPARTMENT UNDER

SECTION 3 (4) OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1968

TO IMMEDIATE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE TELNO.279 OF 16 FEBRUARY,

INFO IMMEDPATE PEKING,

PRIORITY: HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON.

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MY TELNO.216: TMMIGRATION FROM CHINA.

196K

341/1

No it j

1. THE FIGURES FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA REMAIN ALARMINGLY HIGH, THERE WERE OVER 8,000 NEW ARRIVALS WITHOUT HONG KONG OR

THIS IS DOWN SLIGHTLY ONWARD VISAS IN JANUARY (261 PER DAY).

BUT THE FROM THE HIGH POINT OF DECEMBER (310 PER DAY) SEMI-COLON TREND SO FAR THIS MONTH IS UP AGAIN WITH AN AVERAGE OF 288 PER DAY. FURTHERMORE, THE DROP FROM DECEMBER IS DUE ONLY TO THE ENDING

OF THE ABUSE OF PEOPLE GETTING PASSPORTS WITH THE BOGUS CLAIM THAT THEY WERE GOING TO THE PHILIPPINES. ALLOWING FOR THIS FACTOR, THE UNDERLYING TREND HAS CONTINUED TO RISE SHARPLY DESPITE ALL OUR

EFFORTS.

THE PRESENT RATE 2. WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS SITUATION TO CONTINUE. WOULD BE THE EQUIVALENT OF OVER 100,000 A YEAR FOR LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ALONE. WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ALSO RUNNING AT A HIGH LEVEL WE COULD FACE A YEARLY TOTAL OF 140-150,000.

4. MY GENERAL ASSESSMENT IS THAT THE CHINESE HAVE BEEN MAKING EFFORTS TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM SEMI-COLON THAT THESE MAY SHOW SEMI-COLON BUT THAT ANY SOME FURTHER PRACTICAL RESULTS OVER TIME

REDUCTION IN NUMBERS WILL BE SLOW AND UNLIKELY TO COME DOWN

WE ARE TRYING TO GET THE CHINESE SUFFICIENTLY LOW FOR OUR PURPOSES.

TO TAKE SPECIFIC MEASURES ABOUT EMIGRATION TO HONG KONG WHICH GO

CONFIDENTIAL

/AGAINST THEIR