་་་
SECRET
513
123537
SECRET
FM HANOI
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 697
HKB
24319
RECEIVED
04 JAN 1990
DESK
REGISTRY
i
Non taken
OF 15100OZ DECEMBER 89INDEX
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG INFO ROUTINE UKMIS GENEVA
(499)
YOUR TELNO 415: VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE
COPY #ST
MDHIAN 9375
1. I CALLED ON VU KHOAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS THIS AFTERNOON. FULL REPORT FOLLOWS ON MONDAY. HE MADE A NUMBER OF THE POINTS WHICH HAD BEEN MADE TO ME THIS MORNING
BY LE THO OF CONSULAR DEPARTMENT ON PUBLICITY (WHICH I LARGELY DISMISSED AND ADVISED WERE ILL-CONCEIVED AND COUNTER- PRODUCTIVE) AND ON THE COMPLAINTS MADE BY THE RETURNEES THEMSELVES (WHICH I SAID HAD ALREADY BEEN PASSED ON TO THE HONG KONG AUTHORTIES FOR THEIR COMMENTS BUT WHICH, I POINTED OUT WERE ALLEGATIONS
BY PEOPLE WHO, NOT BEING VOLUNTEERS, WERE INEVITABLY NOT ENTIRELY HAPPY ABOUT BEING BACK IN VIETNAM).
2. I THEN PUT TO VU KHOAN OUR PROPOSITIONS FOR THE TFUTURE.
HE CLEARLY HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IN UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WERE
LOOKING FORWARD TO A COOPERATIVE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP. HE DID FINALLY, AND PROMISED TO PUT THE MATTER UP TO HIS MASTERS FOR URGENT CONSIDERATION.
3. ON MY WAY OUT I SPELLED OUT ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS TO MR TIN OF EUROPE 2 DEPARTMENT AND REASSURED HIM THAT HMG HAD TAKEN A DECISION WHICH DEPENDED ONLY ON COOPERATION FROM THE VIETNAMESE SIDE AND WAS NOT REPEAT NOT DEPENDENT ON WHATEVER MIGHT BE SAID BY THE MEDIA BY OPPOSITION MP'S OR BY OTHER COUNTRIES.
4. WHEN DISCUSSING PUBLICITY I SAID THAT I HAD SPOKEN TO THE BBC YESTERDAY IN A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW IN ORDER TO PREVENT FURTHER DISTORTION OF WHAT I HAD BEEN SAYING. I ALSO TOLD HIM THAT I WOULD BE SEEING A NUMBER OF JOURNALISTS. THIS AFTERNOON (TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, SUNDAY CORRESPONDENT, BBC) AND PROPOSED TO SHOW THEM OUR VIDEO AND STILLS OF THE ARRIVAL, IN ORDER TO SHOW JUST HOW SMOOTH AN OPERATION IT HAD BEEN. HE TACITLY AGREED WITH MY PROPOSED ACTION.
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