TNAG-2210-FCO40-3170-Future-of-Hong-Kong-political-parties-1991 — Page 36

ositions.

It has only been recently, when the U.K. Government

such as

screening

did not wish to take responsibility for politically difficult and mandatory decisions on repatriation, that the U.K. and Hong Kong Governments have taken

matters

the public relations position that matters relating to vietnamese stat People are to be decided by Hong Kong.

the

For at that

On 8 April 1987,

This certainly was not the case four years ago. time, the Administration explicitly told this Council that the question of screening and mandatory repatriation were issues to be decided in London by the British Government. the then Secretary for Security Mr. David Jeafferson responded to my question in this Council by stating, "This issue involves Hong Kong's external affairs, and Hong Kong's external relations are the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government.

dissipated

A

พ

Yet, this honesty had serpeared by the

d peared by the time the chier Secretary told this Council year later that it was the Hong Kong Government that had decided to implement the screening policy, And, since then, the British Government has expended a great deal of effort in trying to wash its hands of this difficult situation. For example, in addressing the major

International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees in June of

1989, the

the then Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe sought to place the blame on Hong Kong for any decision to end first asylum. Somehow seeming to forget that the decision was in fact his to make, Sir Geoffrey blustered, "Without an early agreement these steps, I have to warn that Hong Kong will simply be

on

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