SECRET
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Page No. 6 of 9 pages
19.
The firm of Wallem Shipping (Hong Kong) at present act as agents
for Soviet (and Vietnamese) shipping visiting Hong Kong. The Chinese
Government has recently appointed them as agents to handle a new Chinese
container service to the Philippines. Accompanying the offer was a hint
that additional Chinese business would be dependent on Wallem's giving up
the Soviet agency. The firm are likely to take the hint.
KMT
20.
Taipei has confirmed that the present organisation of the KMT in Hong Kong is to remain unchanged and, with it, its leading members, apart from
the Commissioner of the Cultural and Propaganda Office, whose office has been
merged with another part of the organisation. Taipei continues to urge
unity and stability on the local KMT so as to counter communist penetration and
gain support from non-communists.
IMMIGRATION (see also separate assessments)
From China
21.
The daily average of legal immigrants arriving without onward travel
documents was 150. Although this was the lowest figure since May 1978,
the average in each of the last four months has hovered in the 150's and we have no grounds for believing that the Chinese intend to reduce it substantially below 150
a day.
22.
The figure for illegal immigrants arrested, on the other hand,
showed a marked reduction with the turn of the year: the daily average fell
from 485 in December 1979 to 122 in January 1980 and the month's total from 15045 to 3784. The daily figures were higher in the second half of the month, however, supporting the belief that the earlier low totals resulted primarily from uncertainty among potential escapers about the effect of the regulations against illegal emigration announced by the Guangdong authorities and eventually introduced on 8 January. Stiff sentences have lately been imposed on a few
organisers and those using violence but the penalty for a first attempt appears generally to be light (though there continue to be considerable variations between the communes). The great majority of would-be escapers are trying
for the first time and the deterrent effect must be small. Once this is
RET
/ generally
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