TNAG-1179-FCO40-1481-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 99

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this stage.

Mr Donald warned that this might be the case in his interim reply to Sir Philip's letter.

12.

The remaining option that Hong Kong considered was to continue to provide first asylum under the present humane conditions and in accordance with the Geneva agreement in the hope that either the outflow from Vietnam may stop or the resettlement countries may increase their quotas or both paragraph 8(a) of Sir Philip's letter.

There is little chance

that the outflow will stop and we must do our best to get quotas increased. But there is in any case no acceptable alternative to Hong Kong's carrying on as now and we should tell them this, at the same time explaining what we for our part

intend to do.

13. Sir Philip's letter concludes by referring to the 'decisions' of the Geneva Conference and asking what HMG can do to help. There were no decisions as such but we can try and persuade the four most important resettlement countries to increase their

offtake from Hong Kong.

Dim

25 January 1982

R D Clift

Hong Kong & General Department K246 233.3184

cc: Mr Burns (SEAD W85)

Mr Marshall (NAD K268) Mr Williams (UND K156)

I

agree

I am

willing

to tackle the Americans, but

only after my

rebum from S. E. AAsia This is rough for

on 10 February is realistic.

Hong Kong, but in

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Astmald 2671