TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 215

E/CN.4/1503

Annex II page 32

98. The Government has stated that in attempting to recon- struct the economy of the country it had to work with only a quarter of the aid which had been reaching the two parts of the country up to April 1975. As Washington decided after April 1975 to make reconstruction aid contingent upon normaliz- ation of relations, the enormous aid promised earlier was not forthcoming. Other nations cut or reduced their aid to Viet Nam after the war. Viet Nam was

was successful in obtaining aid from a number of countries, particularly those of the socialist bloc, and after the People's Republic of China cut all further aid in mid-1978, Viet Nam joined COMECON and consolidated its already close ties with the Soviet Union by signing a 25-year Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation.

99. The economy was damaged by other factors. In 1977-78 it was hard hit by bitterly cold weather, followed by devastat- ing floods and typhoons collectively responsible for the destruc- tion of millions of tons of rice as well as for an inventory of damage to dykes, bridges and homes. Rice rations were drasti- cally reduced. The serious shortfall in 1978 made matters even worse and affected the population's health and morale. Despite lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Delta peasantry to initial collective methods, collectivization of land in the south was progressively introduced, to which one reaction was a tendency to produce less. Forestry was hampered, as it would be for years to come, by war damage and fishing increasingly was adversely affected by the departure of fishing boats to countries of temporary asylum in the region.

100. Transformation of the commercial sector was simultaneously announced and implemented at the end of March 1978 with the confiscation of private businesses and introduction of a unified currency. The closing of 30 000 businesses, 80 per cent of which had been in the hands of ethnic Chinese in Cholon and other towns, both brought about a temporary dislocation of the commer- cial sector and provoked a massive flight of ethnic Chinese from the country. The repercussions on the economy were far reaching, for among the Chinese whose departure was partly triggered off by the seizure of

seizure of businesses

businesses in the

in the south were engineers, technicians and other workers from the coal mines in the north as well as men responsible for much of the north shore fishing. If the migration of Chinese relieved Viet Nam of large numbers of people not considered to fit the new socialist mould, it also deprived the country of valuable skills at a time when economic problems appeared to be reaching crisis proportions. More than that, it helped precipitate the cut-off of aid from Beijing, quantified at an annual $ 300 million. China justified the cut-off of aid by referring to the expenditures it was incurring as a result of the mass influx of refugees requiring assistance.

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