TNAG-2188-FCO40-3125-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 141

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SECOND REPORT FROM

30 June 1997, however, there will be a British Consulate General in Hong Kong which must be on a scale commensurate with Britain's commitment to and interest in Hong Kong. Such an establishment cannot be created overnight. It is therefore necessary to build up gradually between now and 1997 the size and quality of the British Trade Commission so that it is in a position to take on its much greater responsibilities on 1 July 1997.

4.31. To help achieve this the accommodation and public status of the British Trade Commission must also be improved. Hong Kong people are very conscious of the status provided by the public appearance. Mr Keswick compared the American Consul General in "the great building on the way up to Government House", with the Senior British Trade Commissioner "in rented accommodation in Bank of America Tower. He has no face. He has hardly got a chauffeur".' Britain's commitment to Hong Kong is too easily, if wrongly, equated with the status of our representation. Sir Patrick Wright, the Permanent Under Secretary of State at the FCO, told the Committee on 3 May 1989 during our inquiry into FCO Expenditure: "We are very conscious of the fact that we need a decision quite soon for a suitable site for what will certainly need to be a prestigious and well-sited Consulate General". 2 We understand that the search has continued for several years. We believe such a decision on a site is long overdue.

4.32. This objective might be achieved by dealing with a site on Hong Kong Island that has been left as part of the Hong Kong estate-HMS Tamar. We have discussed above the unacceptability of having PLA troops in Hong Kong after 1997. HMS Tamar is the head- quarters of the British forces in Hong Kong situated on a prime site adjoining Victoria Harbour. We are very concerned that steps were not taken earlier, perhaps before 1984, to safeguard this site from possible PLA use. We consider this failure a grave error. We suspect this can be corrected only with far greater difficulty than would have been encountered in securing the site at a much earlier date. We believe, however, that a valuable and confidence-building indication of Britain's commitment, would be the conversion of HMS Tamar to the site of the British Consulate General. Accordingly, we recommend that as the British garrison in Hong Kong transfers its public order duties to the Royal Hong Kong Police, it should make appropriate arrangements to vacate HMS Tamar, with a view to making part of it the site of the British Trade Commission to 1997 and the British Consulate General thereafter.

V. VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE

5.1. In early June, there were approximately 43,000 Vietnamese Boat People (VBP) in Hong Kong. On 12 June, we asked Sir David Wilson to give us the latest figures for arrivals of Vietnamese Boat People. He replied, "They are horrifying figures. This year we have had 18,000 people arriving. In May we had 9,000. Some days recently we have over 1,000 people arriving For this month June, the rough average has been about 470 people everyday, men, Won 1 children. Perhaps I could make the point of "men, women and children", because it do tlways come across in the reports that I have seen that half of the people arriving are und the age of 20 and a third of them are children of fifteen and less. This a migration of families."3

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5.2. In 1987, for the first time since 1979, new arrivals of Vietnamese Boat People exceeded the number resettled. The new influx, as Sir David Wilson explained, is continuing in ever- increasing numbers. At the same time resettlement numbers are falling, by 42 per cent in 1987. In 1988, 18,325 boat people arrived in Hong Kong which was over twice the number in any single year since 1979.3 In June 1988 the Hong Kong Government introduced a screening policy for all new arrivals, which was intended to determine which were genuine refugees, and which were economic immigrants. This policy was a reflection of the change in the type of person arriving. Originally, in 1979 and immediately thereafter, most had been ethnic Chinese from the former South Vietnam, many of whom had professional skills and qualifications, who were fleeing persecution by the new Government. More recently, however, some 90 per cent of arrivals have been ethnic Vietnamese from north Vietnam, mostly fishermen and farmers. Sir David Wilson told us in March 1989: “The type of people arriving

■ Ibid.

2 HC(1988–89) 264-ii, Q 126. 3 Q 930.

• Evidence p 33 paragraph 4.

' Evidence p 34.