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146453 MDHIAN 7703
PEOPLE WHO MET THEIR CRITERIA. AS A RESULT THEIR OFFTAKE WOULD BE HIGHER THIS YEAR. HE ADMITTED THAT ARRIVALS FROM NORTH VIETNAM WERE UNLIKELY TO QUALIFY AND THAT THIS REPRESENTED A SERIOUS PROBLEM TO WHICH THEY COULD OFFER NO COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION. BUT THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT WAS VERY KEEN TO PRESERVE THE CONCEPT OF FIRST ASYLUM WHILE EFFORTS WERE BEING MADE TO SEEK A LONG TERM SOLUTION. THEY HOPED THAT HMG WOULD TAKE A LEAD IN RELIEVING HONG KONG'S BURDEN. IF THEY DID, THIS COULD INFLUENCE THE US ATTITUDE.
6. I TOLD KOBLER THAT, AS HE WOULD KNOW BUT WASHINGTON MIGHT NOT, THE POLITICAL DIMENSION OF THE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG WAS NOW A CRITICAL FACTOR.THERE WAS GREAT LOCAL RESENTMENT ABOUT THE NUMBERS OF BOAT PEOPLE ARRIVING: THE COST TO HONG KONG OF LOOKING AFTER THEM: AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT OUR CLOSED CENTRES FROM PEOPLE IN COUNTRIES WHICH WERE NOT THEMSELVES PREPARED TO LIVE UP TO THE 1979 UNDERSTANDING THAT ALL BOAT PEOPLE LEAVING VIETNAM WOULD BE TREATED AS REFUGEES. THIS WAS COMPOUNDED BY COMPARISONS BETWEEN OUR TREATMENT OF VIETNAMESE AND OUR POLICY OF SENDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS (NOW RUNNING AT ABOUT 100 PER DAY) BACK TO CHINA. THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN HONG KONG HAD CHANGED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF ELECTED MEMBERS INTO LEGCO. PUBLIC OPINION, WHICH ON THIS ISSUE WAS A GOOD DEAL LESS LIBERAL THAN ADMINISTRATION POLICIES, COULD NOT SIMPLY BE IGNORED. THERE WAS A REAL POSSIBILITY THAT FINANCE COMMITTEE WOULD NOT VOTE FUNDS FOR THE NEW CLOSED CAMPS WE WOULD SOON NEED. CONTINUATION OF A LIBERAL POLICY WAS ONLY POSSIBLE IF OTHER COUNTRIES PLAYED THEIR PART.
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7. I REJECTED THE SUGGESTION THAT FRENCH'S VISITS TO ASEAN COUNTRIES HAD BEEN TO PROMOTE A UNIFORM REGIONAL POLICY ON LIMITATIONS OF FIRST ASYLUM FOR REFUGEES'' THE AIM HAD BEEN TO DISCUSS THE PRESENT SITUATION WITH THE OTHER PLACES OF FIRST ASYLUM WHICH WERE FACING THE SAME PROBLEMS AS US AND FIND OUT HOW THEY THOUGHT THESE PROBLEMS COULD BEST BE HANDLED. THIS WAS AKIN TO THE RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES DISCUSSING THEIR SHARED PROBLEMS IN THE ICG. IN PARTICULAR FRENCH HAD BEEN TRYING TO DISCOVER WHETHER THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY OF A COMMON ASEAN APPROACH TO VIETNAM. I POINTED OUT THAT THE CHANGE OF POLICY IN THAILAND HAD OCCURRED BEFORE HIS VISIT.. BUT IN ANY CASE I HOPED THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT UNDER THE ILLUSION THAT HONG KONG WAS IN A POSITION TO PRODUCE DRAMATIC CHANGES IN THE POLICIES OF ITS NEIGHBOURS.
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8. THE HIGHER US OFFTAKE KOBLER HAD MENTIONED WAS MOST WELCOME. BUT 1,000 PEOPLE REPRESENTED ONLY ONE-HALF OF THOSE WHO HAD ALREADY ARRIVED THIS YEAR. OFFTAKE AT THIS LEVEL WOULD NOT SOLVE OUR PROBLEM.
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