TNAG-0906-FCO40-1116-Immigration-from-China-to-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 103

SECRET

UK EYES 'A'

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

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P M Maxey Esq Cabinet Office Whitehall LONDON SW 1

27 September 1979

HKK34!!

RECEIVDO KO

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INDEX

PA

Dear Peter,

HONG KONG

1.

As you may know, the garrison in Hong Kong was reinforced during the summer to help deal with the problem of illegal immi- gration from China. The reinforcements were provided on a short- term basis and are due to be phased out by the end of the year (though the Governor has warned that he may have to ask for further temporary reinforcements thereafter).

2.

Sir M MacLehose believes that the pressure from illegal immigrants is likely to continue well into the 1980s; that it will accordingly be necessary to maintain effective preventive measures indefinitely; and that the present garrison (less the reinforcements) will be insufficient for the purpose. He has therefore recommended that a permanent increase in the size of the garrison should now be considered and that the necessary studies should be put in hand as soon as possible. At official level we and the Ministry of Defence believe that such a review is fully justified and we will shortly be seeking Ministerial authority.

3.

A

The Ministry of Defence consider that any study of the future size of the garrison must take place against the back- ground of an assessment of the threat. We and the Governor agree. The external and internal threats to Hong Kong posed by the People's Republic of China were, of course, examined in JIC (78)(9) of 29 August 1978. We see no need for an extensive revision of that paper. But it was completed at a time when illegal immi- gration from China was not a major problem and the influx of Vietnamese refugees had not yet begun: the former is referred to only briefly in paragraph 28 of the paper and the latter is not mentioned at all. In these circumstances what we need is an assessment of the longer term implications of the continuing illegal immigration and refugee problems for the security of Hong Kong, perhaps in the form of an updating of JIC (78)(9). The opportunity might be taken to check that the conclusions reached in other parts of the paper remain valid in the light of subsequent developments but this should not be a major task.

SECRET UK EYES 'A'

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