$ 18/10 Mr Haswell
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Mr Burns
News Department
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306)
D H Colvin
South-East Asia Dept
13 October 1989
PS/Mr Maude
Mr Gillmore
Mr McLaren
Mr Paul, HKD
Mr Millington, FED
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE:
REPATRIATION:
PUBLIC PRESENTATION
1 I should record that I had lunch today with the Economist:
Bill Emmott, Business Affairs Editor former Tokyo correspondent who has a book on Japan coming out next
week
Jim Rohwer, Asia Editor
Andrew Cowley, ex-UNHCR field officer and recently appointed South-East Asia correspondent, leaving for his new post in Hong Kong next week.
2 I took the opportunity to brief them in full on the general rationale for the mandatory return of boat people from Hong Kong. Jim Rohwer, who is American, tried to defend American policy which I dissected in detail. He said that the policy of the Economist was to oppose mandatory repatriation, not on humanitarian grounds but because they believed that there should be totally free immigration world-wide. He had the grace to accept that if such a policy obtained, there would be no VBP problem in Hong Kong since that is the preferred destination of very few of them.
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D H Colvin
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