CONFIDENTIAL
141440 MDHOAN 1945
OF FIRST ASYLUM BUT FOR VIETNAM TOO. WE THEREFORE HOPED THAT AT
THE NEXT ROUND OF BILATERAL TALKS THE VIETNAMESE SIDE WOULD
ADOPT A MORE IMAGINATIVE AND FLEXIBLE APPROACH IN THE SEARCH FOR EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO DEAL WITH THIS INCREASINGLY SERIOUS
PROBLEM.
TRAN VAN HUNG AGREED THAT THE SITUATION WAS SERIOUS AND THAT
VIETNAM SHARED AN INTEREST IN SEEING IT RESOLVED. BUT IT WAS NOT OF THEIR MAKING. IT WAS THE RESULT OF A LONG AND DESTRUCTIVE
CAMPAIGN OF RESTRICTIONS AGAINST VIETNAM. IT WAS A POLITICAL AS
WELL AS ECONOMIC ISSUE. SOME COUNTRIES HAD BEEN ENCOURAGING BOAT PEOPLE TO LEAVE. TO SHOW THEY UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROBLEM THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT HAD BEEN PROMPT IN OFFERING
TALKS. THEY WANTED TO COOPERATE. LORD GLENARTHUR REPLIED THAT
THE LARGE MAJORITY OF BOAT PEOPLE NOW ARRIVING IN HONG KONG WERE ECONOMIC MIGRANTS NOT REFUGEES. VIETNAMESE WITHDRAWAL FROM CAMBODIA WOULD BE ONE WAY OF HELPING. THE MINISTER SAID THAT THE
BBC HAD BROADCAST WARNINGS THAT THOSE SEEKING TO LAND IN HONG
KONG WHO ARE NOT REFUGEES WOULD BE RETURNED. THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT SHOULD HELP TO GET THIS MESSAGE ACROSS TO THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE. BUT IT WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO TRY TO STEM THE
FLOW. MORE FLEXIBILITY WAS NECESSARY TO DEAL WITH THE REPATRIATION OF THOSE NOW IN CAMPS IN HONG KONG. HE ASKED THE
AMBASSADOR TO CONVEY THESE POINTS AND HMG'S VERY REAL CONCERN TO HANOI.
COMMENT
8.
HITHERTO WE HAVE LIMITED THE VIETNAMESE AMBASSADOR'S ACCESS
TO MINISTERS. LORD GLENARTHUR'S AGREEMENT TO RECEIVE HIM ON
THIS OCCASION PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY TO UNDERLINE HMG'S CONCERN ABOUT THE BOAT PEOPLE PROBLEM, AND TO SIGNAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF VIETNAM'S APPARENT WISH TO IMPROVE RELATIONS ON A BROAD RANGE OF ISSUES.
9. TRAN VAN HUNG HAD LITTLE NEW TO SAY. BUT THE VIETNAMESE ARE
CLEARLY INTENT ON ISOLATING THE KHMER ROUGE AND FOSTERING A PRK/SIHANOUK RAPPROCHEMENT. MOREOVER THE AMBASSADOR'S ACCOUNT OF VIETNAM'S POSITION ON WITHDRAWAL, AND PARTICIPATION IN THE POST-JIM WORKING GROUP WAS MUCH LESS CLEAR CUT THAN THOSE IN
BANGKOK TELNO 454 AND JAKARTA TELNO 287 RESPECTIVELY.
CHALKER
YYYY
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CONFIDENTIAL
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