TNAG-1427-FCO40-1910-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1986 — Page 151

CONFIDENTIAL

5. The White Paper was generally welcomed in Hong Kong. In the UK

there was little press comment. Since it was published, we have

been conducting a major diplomatic campaign to persuade other

countries to accept additional number of refugees from Hong Kong.

We have approached a wide range of countries, both those which

already accept refugees from Hong Kong on a regular basis (the US,

Australia and Canada) and those which have accepted them only

sporadically in the past (Japan, EC and other Western

Western European

countries, New Zealand). In addition the subject has been raised by

the Secretary of State with his Canadian and American counterparts,

by Lady Young with the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, by Mr Rifkind at the EC Foreign Ministers' lunch, and by the UK delegation

at the recent executive committee meeting of UNHCR in Geneva. A

further opportunity to raise the subject will be the Commonwealth

Heads of Government Meeting (16-22 October). Meanwhile Hong Kong

are also lobbying the Consular Corps in Hong Kong and through their

Overseas offices. Responses have been mixed. The main resettlement

countries have welcomed our decision, but i t is too early yet to

know what, if any,

additional commitments they will be prepared to

make.

Involuntary Repatriation to Vietnam

6. The Hong Kong Government have proposed this on several occasions

since 1982. Such a measure would be popular

be popular in Hong Kong, where

there is general resentment of the fact that newly arriving Vietnamese boat people receive better treatment than illegal Chinese immigrants, who despite having close ethnic and often family ties

with local Hong Kong Chinese, are almost invariably repatriated to China. When Ministers most recently (May 1985) considered the

possibility of discussing the subject of repatriation with the

Vietnamese Government (who have hitherto refused to accept back

refugees who departed from Vietnam illegally), the Secretary of

State decided that such a course should not be pursued. He took the

view that Parliamentary and public opinion in this country would not

accept that we should discuss forcible repatriation with the Vietnamese regime given our condemnation of Vietnamese policies, not

least in Cambodia. The HKG were informed of this.

CONFIDENTIAL