TNAG-2231-FCO40-3203-Visits-by-David-Wilson--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-the-UK-and-1991 — Page 13

G.F. 82

File No.

CONFIDENTIAL

NOTE FOR FILE

Governor's Visit to Australia

8 to 15 May 1991

Meeting with Senator Gareth Evans, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on 13 May 1991

Page.

The

Governor

and

the

British High

Commissioner,

Minister for

Canberra called on Senator Gareth Evans,

The Foreign Affairs and Trade on 13 May.

following points were raised :-

Senator

Evans

for

(a) The Governor thanked

Australia's practical help over the problem of Vietnamese resettlement

(b)

migrants,

in

particular of 1,500 last year. He said that he expected growing pressure in Hong Kong to abandon first asylum, particularly since this

election an

Kong Hong

was

Evans

year.

was now

getting virtually all departures from Vietnam and there was little room left in the camps. Senator

said that settlement of the Cambodian issue was the key to a long term solution.

The Governor said that he thought State Department was sympathetic. The President had shown signs of understanding the problem better when he met Prime Minister Major a month previously.

the

US

now more

The Governor thanked Senator Evans for PECC and APEC Senator Evans said that he had

Australian membership.

over support

raised the latter with Qian recent visit to Peking. emphasized to Qian the linguistic

that APEC matters.

the

Qichen during his Senator Evans had importance of a solution. This should emphasize was to be confined

economic It would need to be done very to "trading

with

reference

to

carefully economies" and "ministerial level meetings". Senator Evans said that he had emphasized to Qian the value of the customs territory formulation for Taiwan. He said that the PRC was likely to accept a package provided it was given

right labelling. He said that if China and Hong Kong were both being accommodating but Taiwan was not, one option might be to signal a readiness to accept two Chinas.

This would certainly concentrate minds in Taiwan. Senator Evans emphasized that he had not talked to Korea about this idea

yet.

asked whether the customs territory

formulation had been raised

The Governor

with the Taiwanese. Senator Evans said that it would be later in the week.

CONFIDENTIAL