TNAG-1343-FCO40-1773-Visit-by-Margaret-Thatcher--UK-Prime-Minister--to-Beijing-fo-1984 — Page 218

CONFIDENTIAL

PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO CHINA AND HONG KONG, 18-21 December 1984

HONG KONG

BRIEF NO 5: BACKGROUND:

A.

DISTRICT VISIT, THURSDAY 20 DECEMBER, 2.30 – 4.00 PM

ABERDEEN

1.

Aberdeen is one of the oldest settlements and

settlements and the largest

fishing port in Hong Kong. The settlement was named after the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Aberdeen.

2. The Aberdeen harbour provides an anchorage for some 1180 fishing vessels. There are about 7,200 active fishermen and the fishing vessels used by them are mostly trawlers, long-liners, gill-netters and purse-seiners. They represent about 25% of the

total fishing fleet in Hong Kong.

3. There are some 600 dwelling boats in the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter accommodating 700 families with a total population of over 5,000. The dwelling boats are mainly old vessels ranging from small sampans to large junks. Although most boat dwellers are from fishing families, their normal employment is with factories ashore. The boat dwellers will shortly be cleared and resettled ashore as a

result of reclamation works.

AP LEI CHAU

4. Ap Lei Chau is an island opposite Aberdeen, linked to it by the

Before the recent completion of a bridge spanning Aberdeen Harbour. completion of the Ap Lei Chau Bridge, the population on the island was small. Furthermore, since the area was inaccessible to fire

engines, a height restriction was imposed, for safety purposes, on all building development. However, since the completion of the Bridge and the Ap Lei Chau Estate in 1980, development accelerated,

and the building height restriction was later lifted.

CONFIDENTIAL