MADAGG (5)
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CALL ON LORD GLENARTHUR BY DR C H LEONG, 10 FEBRUARY 1989
BACKGROUND
Dr Leong
1. Dr C H Leong was elected last year as the representative of the Medical Functional Constituency in LegCo. He defeated Dr Chiu
Hin-Kwong, who had defeated him at the previous election in 1985.
2. Dr Leong is here for his daughter's half term at Malvern. He is
bright and articulate. He has quickly made a good impression in
LegCo and in the community as a whole. He is usually described by the media as a liberal (but in its proper meaning, but not in its
current Hong Kong usage implying radical), He favours a more
democratic system but advocates it in a rational manner.
Vietnamese Boat People
3. Dr Leong was one of the 8 LegCo members who recently voted against the allocation of 1 million dollars for reintegration assistance for those boat people being repatriated voluntarily to
Vietnam. Privately, when the Governor remonstrated with him, he
argued that he hoped by so doing to put more pressure on HMG and
UNHCR.
4. There have been a number of inaccurate reports in the Hong Kong press following an off-the-record briefing by an FCO official in
Hong Kong. These have implied that we consider the Vietnamese boat
people problem to be one for Hong Kong, resulting from decisions
made by Hong Kong. They implied that we were ducking our responsibilities. This meeting provides a good opportunity to emphasise our commitment to doing all we can to help Hong Kong, and to emphasise our responsibility to be closely involved with efforts to solve the problem.
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