TNAG-1788-FCO40-2548-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1988 — Page 265

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MDHOAN 1945

3. LORD GLENARTHUR AGREED THAT THE JIM WAS IMPORTANT, THOUGH WE HAD BEEN DISAPPOINTED THAT MORE PROGRESS HAD NOT BEEN ACHIEVED.

IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT VIETNAM BE PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE AND TO

DEMONSTRATE FLEXIBILITY IN ANY FOLLOW-UP TO JIM. HE PRESSED TRAN

VAN HUNG HARD ON WITHDRAWAL AND APPARENT LINKAGE. THE VIETNAMESE

OCCUPATION WAS ILLEGAL AND SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO AN END QUICKLY IRRESPECTIVE OF OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, IMPORTANT THOUGH THEY MAY BE. THE AMBASSADOR CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS STILL VIETNAM'S

INTENTION TO WITHDRAW BY 1990 BUT THIS WOULD DEPEND ON THE

CAMBODIAN FACTIONS. IF THEY OR OTHERS ASKED VIETNAM TO STAY

UNTIL A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION HAD BEEN WORKED OUT THEN VIETNAM

WOULD RECONSIDER. LORD GLENARTHUR INSISTED THAT THERE SHOULD BE

NO LINKAGE AND NO CONDITIONALITY. VIETNAM MUST WITHDRAW.

4. TRAN VAN HUNG SAID THAT THE FOUR CAMBODIAN FACTIONS HAD AGREED TO SET UP A WORKING GROUP TO FOLLOW UP THE JIM. ONCE THEY

HAD AGREED ON THE BASIS FOR AN INTERNAL SETTLEMENT THEY WOULD BE JOINED BY VIETNAM, LAOS AND ASEAN TO LOOK AT THE BROADER REGIONAL ISSUES. THEREAFTER THERE WOULD BE A ROLE FOR THE WIDER INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT THIS THE

AMBASSADOR REPEATED THAT ONLY THE CAMBODIAN FACTIONS WOULD BE

INVOLVED IN THE FIRST STAGE OF THE WORKING GROUP.

5. TRAN VAN HUNG DREW ATTENTION TO THE PASSAGE IN THE PRK SEVEN

POINT PLAN DEALING WITH SUPPORT FOR THE KHMER ROUGE. VIETNAM

HOPED THAT HMG WOULD HELP TO ENSURE THAT ALL SUPPORT TO THE KHMER

ROUGE WAS ENDED. TRAN VAN HUNG DUCKED LORD GLENARTHUR'S

QUESTIONS ON WHO VIETNAM THOUGHT WAS SUPPLYING THE KHMER ROUGE.

HE REFERRED TO SIHANOUK'S REQUEST TO CHINA TO STOP THEM. LORD

GLENARTHUR REPLIED THAT OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE KHMER ROUGE WAS FIRMLY ON RECORD. NEVERTHELESS IT WAS HARDLY SUPRISING THAT

THERE WAS RESISTANCE TO THE CONTINUED VIETNAMESE OCCUPATION OF CAMBODIA. THIS WAS THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE AND SHOULD NOT BE

LINKED TO OTHER FACTORS. HE REPEATED THAT VIETNAM MUST WITHDRAW

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG

6.

LORD GLENARTHUR SAID THAT THE GROWING NUMBERS OF BOAT PEOPLE WAS A HUMANITARIAN PROBLEM OF ENORMOUS PROPORTIONS. THE SITUATION HAD DETERIORATED FURTHER SINCE THE SECRETARY OF STATE DISCUSSED IT WITH THE VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTER IN JUNE. THERE WERE NOW MORE THAN 20,000 BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG ALONE. WE ATTACHED IMPORTANCE TO THE TALKS IN HANOI WHICH HAD BEEN

CONSTRUCTIVE UP TO A POINT. WE WERE DISAPPOINTED THAT THERE HAD

NOT BEEN MORE PROGRESS ON THE QUESTION OF REPATRIATING ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. THIS WAS A PROBLEM NOT ONLY FOR THE PLACES

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