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[Ministers/they] have had a chance to hear the views of the
delegation. The Minister should therefore be able to deflect
some of the heat from these issues by reassuring the LegCo
four that we are giving careful consideration to their legitimate concerns.
Airport
20.
HKG passed a third financing proposal to the Chinese in April. This proposal increases HKG's equity injection,
removes the need for callable equity, and would enable the first dividends to be paid in 1997. The proposals has not yet been made public, although there has been speculation in
the press.
In early June, HKG will seek Finance Committee
approval for continued funding for the Provisional Airport
Authority (the application is likely to be approved), and the
franchise for the Western Harbour Crossing is due to be let,
also in June.
21.
Comments made by Chinese officials to the press and to
Hong Kong businessmen suggest that they may be prepared to "de-link" the airport from constitutional issues and may find
our latest proposal more acceptable than the previous two. A
meeting of the Airport Committee will be held on 4 June. The
Minister might ask the Governor whether HKG would accommodate
a request by the Chinese of further equity injections (of say HK$ 5-10 billion), if this would lead to agreement.
Vietnamese Migrants
22.
The UK/Hong Kong Orderly Repatriation Programme has now
been running successfully for nearly 18 months. There have
been one or two minor difficulties on the Vietnamese side,
but we hope these have now been resolved. 590 illegal immigrants (including deported criminal offenders) have been
returned to Vietnam since November 1991. Fifty-nine illegals
hum24.5/MIN/NJH
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