TNAG-2348-FCO40-3417-Political-relations-between-Hong-Kong--China-and-Canada-1991 — Page 20

CONFIDENTIAL

(d)

Support for Hong Kong's international position: the

Canadians are already giving detailed consideration to ways of

bolstering Hong Kong's international position (Hong Kong telno

3514);

- Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office: Canadian Cabinet

approval has already been given for the drafting of legislation to permit the establishment of a Hong Kong

Economic and Trade office in Toronto. Canadian legal experts

may wish to consult us on the details.

Vietnamese boat people is probably a less promising area for

bilateral cooperation. On resettlement, the Canadians have

already given a commitment to take a large number of

Vietnamese refugees over the next three years and are unlikely to be prepared to do any more. On the repatriation front the

Canadians are not happy with the idea of non-voluntary returns

and the most that we can hope for is that they will not criticise us openly.

We already enjoy close cooperation with the Canadians in

multilateral fora (eg the Paris Economic Summit and CHOGM) at

which the question of international support for Hong Kong has

been raised.

ASHAAO (2)

Rosalind Manch

R M Marsden

CONFIDENTIAL