TNAG-0936-FCO40-1155-Visit-of-Norman-Fowler--Minister-of-Transport--to-Hong-Kong--1980 — Page 18

IN CONFIDENCE

increasing, Chinese investments in Hong Kong and large numbers of Chinese officials in, for example, the New China News Agency (NCNA), the Bank of China and many trading and other organisations in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government's regular contacts with the Chinese authorities are relaxed and easy; every indication is that the Chinese do not wish to disturb the status quo. Much of the expensive advanced western equipment and technology which China desires to purchase in the next few years could well be paid for, at least in part, from foreign exchange earnings derived from Hong Kong. China therefore has a vested interest in the Colony's prosperity in the foreseeable future. Recent statements by Chinese officials have been aimed at maintaining confidence and thus prosperity, most recently during the Governor's visit to Peking in the spring of 1979.

IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA

5.

Hong Kong's capacity to accept immigrants, even temporarily, is severely limited by the strain imposed on its essential services by an already overcrowded population Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Immigration thus constitutes

a constant problem.

6.

The numbers even of legal immigrants are well above what Hong Kong can absorb comfortably, and illegal immigration from China remains at a high level despite efforts by both the Chinese and the Hong Kong authorities to control it,

REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM

7. Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, Hong Kong has had to contend with a rising tide of refugees. Some 14,000 former residents of Indo-China, many with family connections in Hong Kong, have been allowed to settle in the Colony. In addition to those who are admitted for permanent resettlement, the Hong Kong Government have also traditionally allowed refugees from Vietnam who reach Hong Kong in small boats or who are picked up at sea by vessels approaching Hong Kong to land temporarily while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees takes responsibility for arranging their eventual resettlement in other countries. (Some have already been accepted into Britain).

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