TNAG-1420-FCO40-1903-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1985 — Page 174

CONFIDENTIAL

3. In order to maximise the effect of this decision, we are launching a major diplomatic campaign to persuade other countries to take additional numbers of refugees from Hong Kong. We have instructed posts in a wide range of countries (the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, EC and other European countries), to approach their host governments immediately after the White Paper is published. We wish to reinforce these approaches by raising the subject at bilateral and multilateral meetings whenever

opportunities arise in the coming weeks.

It would be very helpful

if the Secretary of State could do so at

so at his meeting with

Herr Genscher.

German position

4.

West Germany has accepted about 2,400 Vietnamese refugees from

Hong Kong since 1975, more than any other European country apart from the UK. Most of these went to Germany in 1979/80: recently it

has accepted very few (1 in 1984, 43 so far this year). However it

continues to accept large numbers direct from Vietnam (about 1,000

in the past year). Altogether it has accepted 29,000 Indo-Chinese

refugees since 1975 (compared with the UK's 19,000).

CONFIDENTIAL