TNAG-1753-FCO40-2473-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1988 — Page 28

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21.

If I might sum up the feeling of the House on the draft Basic

Law, I believe that the following points emerge:

the drafting exercise is a remarkable one, carried out with a considerable openess and commitment to consultation;

but the draft is not yet right in all its parts, as all those concerned readily acknowledge;

must acknowledge that concerns have been expressed in Hong Kong about certain articles of the draft;

those concerns will be given the most careful consideration by the British Government, and I have no doubt by the Chinese

authorities too.

22.

[

I have referred to the problems caused by the fresh influx of Vietnamese boat people into Hong Kong. We are acutely aware of the gravity of the crisis facing the territory.

far this year there have been more than 6,000 arrivals: the population of boat people has almost doubled in the past year.

now stands at

It

So

23. My rt hon and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary made it clear when he was in Hong Kong that things simply cannot go on as they are. The great majority of those now leaving Vietnam cannot be described as political refugees according to the definition of the

UNHCR. The automatic resettlement of all those leaving Vietnam, for whatever reason, is not a practicable proposition. Other countries

cannot be expected to carry the burcen of Vietnam's abysmal economic mismanagement, least of all a small and overcrowded territory like Hong Kong. It must be right in principle for these people, who are Vietnamese, to find their future in Vietnam. But despite international pressure the Vietnamese authorities refuse to take them back. We are considering urgently, in the light of my rt hon and learned Friend's discussions in Hong Kong, how this grave

problem can best be tackled.

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