TNAG-0905-FCO40-1115-Immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 165

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CONFIDENTIAL

ure.000/54x/1.

Akk

vation only / Action on

HONG KONG:

REFUGEES AND IMMIGRATION

1.

HACE нее.. Зан

DARY INDEX

No

· 9 MAY 1979

1J9.5

The flow of people into Hong Kong is currently the most

difficult problem facing the Hong Kong Government. It has two

aspects, immigration from China and the arrival of "boat refugees"

from Vietnam. In terms of numbers immigration from China is the

more serious problem (Hong Kong has absorbed 175,000 immigrants

from China in the past 16 months), but the rapidly growing number

of Vietnamese refugees is a cause of very great concern.

IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA

2.

There are two types of Chinese immigrants into Hong Kong:

legal immigrants (those with official Chinese travel documents),

and legal immigrants (those who leave China without the approval

of the Chinese authorities).

(a) Legal immigration. Because they regard Hong Kong as part

of China, the Chinese Government take the view that their

nationals have the right of free entry into Hong Kong.

While not fully accepting this position, the Hong Kong

Government have normally allowed all those to whom the

Chinese authorities are prepared to give travel documents

to enter Hong Kong, accepting that the great majority of

these will remain in the territory. In practice the

Chinese authorities have recognised a responsibility

to limit the number of Chinese immigrants into Hong Kong.

The actual numbers have fluctuated but in recent years

have not been too far from the average of 50 a day,

which the Hong Kong Government regard as acceptable.

However, the figures rose rapidly in 1978 to reach a

peak of over 300 a day in December. The total number of legal immigrants in 1978 was over 67,000.

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