TNAG-1790-FCO40-2550-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-resettlement-in-third-countri-1988 — Page 155

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YOUR TELNO 1355: VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG: ACTION WITH US

THE

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HELPFUL IF YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN ME MORE NOTICE OF THE PROPOSAL THAT DAVID GILLMORE SHOULD RAISE THE SUBJECT OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG WITH SIGUR OVER LUNCH TODAY.

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2. I AM CONCERNED AT THE IMPLICATIONS OF GOING OUT OF OUR WAY TO GIVE THE AMERICANS SUCH A BROAD HINT ABOUT A CHANGE OF POLICY SOME THREE WEEKS BEFORE IT IS DUE TO COME INTO EFFECT ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN INDICATIONS OF A GREATER AMERICAN WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT SUCH A CHANGE OF POLICY THERE ARE STILL SOME PARTS OF THE AMERICAN

· ADMINISTRATION WHICH WILL SEEK TO MODIFY OR DELAY OUR PROPOSALS. ADVANCE WARNING THEREFORE INCREASES THE RISK OF PRESSURE ON MINISTERS TO PREVENT A CHANGE.

3. PRIOR TO YOUR TUR AND THE NEWS

GILLMORE/SIGUR MEETING, OUR THINKING HAD BEEN TO DELAY OUR APPROACH TO THE AMERICANS UNTIL NEARER THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE FOR OPERATION WATCHMAN, PARTICULARLY AS MINISTERS HAVE NOT YET GIVEN THE GO AHEAD FOR A CHANGE OF POLICY AND AS WE ARE ONLY TODAY BROACHING THE SUBJECT WITH THE UNHCR I WOULD THEREFORE PREFER GILLMORE NOT TO RAISE THE SUBJECT HIMSELF.

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4. HOWEVER, I ACCEPT THAT IF SIGUR RAISES THE SUBJECT OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IT WOULD MAKE NO (NO) SENSE TO DENY THAT A REVIEW OF POLICY IS IN HAND. IN THAT CASE I WOULD PREFER GILLMORE NOT (NOT) TO GO QUITE AS FAR AS THE LINE IN TUR.

5. WITH THIS IN MIND I SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS TO THE POINTS IN PARA ONE OF TUR IF SIGUR RAISES THE SUBJECT:

(A) IN POINT (A), IT SHOULD BE MADE CLEAR THAT THE MOUNTING LOCAL PRESSURE IN HONG KONG AGAINST THE CONTINUATION OF THE PRESENT POLICY IS FUELLED NOT ONLY BY THE MASSIVE INFLUX OF BOAT PEOPLE THIS YEAR BUT ALSO BY THE REDUCING OUTFLOW TO RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES. RESETTLEMENT IN 1987 WAS 42 PERCENT DOWN ON THE PREVIOUS YEAR:

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