TNAG-1885-FCO40-2676-Overseas-visits-by-Sir-David-Wilson--Governor-of-Hong-Kong---1989 — Page 31

We are

12. The problem of Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong

is widely seen in Hong Kong as an acid test of Britain's

sense of responsibility towards the territory.

committed to solving it before 1997 and are coming under

increasing pressure from Hong Kong people and from the

Chinese authorities to demonstrate our determination and

ability to do so. The forthcoming International

Conference on Indo- Chinese refugees provides us with an

important opportunity to make progress towards a

comprehensive solution, on both repatriation and

resettlement. It will enable us to emphasise the need

for a solution at an international level, but Hong Kong

and the international community will expect Britain to

take a lead in shouldering its necessary share of the

responsibility. Failure to do so will cause irreparable

damage to our credibility in the territory (and to the

credibility of the Hong Kong British Administration).

13. The other key problem of concern to Hong Kong is

emigration. The loss of qualified professional people

from Hong Kong, while manageable at present, is

potentially very serious indeed. We are lending our full

support to the various measures which the Hong Kong

Government are taking to contain the effects of

emigration. We are also making clear that Hong Kong

people are free to leave the territory if they wish.

But we must at the same time be careful to ensure that,

by our own words and actions, we are not seen to be

actively encouraging the flow of talent and capital from

the territory.