CONFIDENTIAL
4. Sir D Wilson said he had already come to the provisional
conclusion that a change of policy was inevitable, and that there
would be a need to move soon. The policy recommendations made by
the OMELCO panel would be bound to become news. This would fuel
existing rumours in Vietnam of an imminent change of policy, and
lead even more Vietnamese to leave for Hong Kong in an effort to
beat the ban. Where the timing of a change of policy was concerned,
he was likely to be looking for action in a very few weeks, perhaps
just before or just after the Secretary of State's visit to
Hong Kong. We discussed briefly the pros and cons of each. Time was very short if we were to bring Ministers to take a collective
decision on such a radical change of policy between now and the last
week in May. On the other hand if no such change of policy had been
announced, the Secretary of State would come under great pressure
when he was in Hong Kong to indicate how HMG were helping Hong Kong
to cope with its problems.
5.
The Governor said that timing might become clearer in the light
of discussion at the meeting he would be holding tomorrow. He hoped
he might be able to send a progress report after that. In
preparation for that, I am sending a letter to the Home Office,
bringing them up to date and asking for their reactions to the
envisaged change of policy. You and I also discussed the matter
today, and concluded that a submission should be put up next week,
alerting the Secretary of State to the problem.
AR Paul
CO Hum
ppc
CONFIDENTIAL
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