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“Bat lau dung laai”: Shifting Hong Kong Perspectives Toward the Vietnamese Boatpeople

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China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series ((CIPCSS))

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Abstract

Hong Kong people’s encounter with the Vietnamese boatpeople lasted for over a decade. Early arrivals from Vietnam, following the 1975 communist takeover of the south of the country, were perceived as Cold War victims. They moved on relatively rapidly from Hong Kong to Western Capitalist Bloc countries. The massive influx of ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam, especially after the PRC’s incursion into Northern Vietnam in 1979, forced Hong Kong to develop strategies to cope with far larger numbers of such arrivals. Social discontent over Hong Kong’s role as a holding port for these refugees escalated and popular sympathy for them declined, with new arrivals perceived as economic migrants battening on Hong Kong—an attitude that hardened even further as ethnic Vietnamese refugees began to predominate in the 1980s. As the PRC introduced market reforms, Cold War alignments shifted, and the city’s future appeared uncertain, broader geopolitical factors were reflected in pervasive public attitudes toward these boatpeople in Hong Kong.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These four syllables represented one defining event in Gu Yongxin, Woxi Xianggangren de 101 ge Liyou (101 reasons that I am a Hongkonger) (Hong Kong: Sifang Meiti, 2014), 72–74. They also represented a symbolic site in Liu Lilin, Xianggang Feixu Daoshang (A guided tour of the ruins of Hong Kong) (Hong Kong: Wanli Shudian, 2013), 146–151.

  2. 2.

    Chan Lau Kit-Ching, “The United States and the Question of Hong Kong, 1941–1945,” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 19 (1979), 1–20; Chi-kwan Mark, Hong Kong and the Cold War: Anglo-American Relations 1949–1957 (Oxford: Clarendon, 2004); and Chi-Kwan Mark, “The ‘Problem of People’: British Colonials, Cold War Powers, and the Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong, 1949–62,” Modern Asian Studies 41:6 (November 2007), 1145–1181.

  3. 3.

    TKP (April 1, 4, 1975); KSDN (April 1, 5, 6, 1975); and SCMP (April 2, 3, 4, 5, 1975). [For abbreviations, see list at the end of this chapter.]

  4. 4.

    SCMP (April 3, 1975).

  5. 5.

    SCMP (April 4, 1975).

  6. 6.

    WKYP (April 1, 5, 1975); and TKP (April 5, 1975).

  7. 7.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  8. 8.

    SCMP (April 8, 1975).

  9. 9.

    SCMP (April 26, 1975); and WKYP (April 27, 1975).

  10. 10.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  11. 11.

    SCMP (April 23, 1975).

  12. 12.

    SCMP (April 27, 1975); and TKP (April 27, 1975).

  13. 13.

    SCMP (April 30, 1975).

  14. 14.

    SCMP (May 1, 1975).

  15. 15.

    TKP (May 1, 1975).

  16. 16.

    KSDN (May 1, 1975).

  17. 17.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  18. 18.

    SCMP (May 4, 1975).

  19. 19.

    SCMP (May 5, 1975).

  20. 20.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  21. 21.

    HKS (May 16, 1975).

  22. 22.

    Press Reviews No. 329, 331, HKRS70-6-858.

  23. 23.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  24. 24.

    HKS (June 10, 1975); and WKYP (June 10, 1975).

  25. 25.

    SCMP (June 11, 1975); and KSDN (June 11, 1975).

  26. 26.

    HKS (June 11, 1975).

  27. 27.

    HKS (June 12, 1975).

  28. 28.

    HKS (June 23, 1975).

  29. 29.

    HKS (June 24, 1975).

  30. 30.

    SCMP (June 26, 1975).

  31. 31.

    SCMP (October 17, 1975).

  32. 32.

    Departure of Boat Refugees from Vietnam from Hong Kong, FCO40/996.

  33. 33.

    HKRS70-7-626.

  34. 34.

    STDN (November 12, 1975).

  35. 35.

    FCO 40/997; and FSBP (April 1988), Appendix A.

  36. 36.

    SCMP (June 23, 1975).

  37. 37.

    HKS (November 17, 1975).

  38. 38.

    HKT (June 28, 1977).

  39. 39.

    STDN (June 7, 1977).

  40. 40.

    TTDN (June 26, 1977).

  41. 41.

    SCMP (June 17, 1977).

  42. 42.

    STDN (May 7, 1978); and WKMP (May 7, 1978).

  43. 43.

    TTDN (May 7, 1978).

  44. 44.

    SP (May 7, 1978).

  45. 45.

    WKMP (May 8, 1978); KSEN (May 8, 1978); and WKYP (May 9, 1978).

  46. 46.

    See William J. Duiker, China and Vietnam: The Roots of Conflict (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1986); King C. Chen, China’s War with Vietnam, 1979: Issues, Decisions, and Implications (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1987); Robert S. Ross, The Indochina Tangle: China’s Vietnam Policy, 1975–1979 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988); Anne Gilks, The Breakdown of the Sino-Vietnamese Alliance, 1970–1979 (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Center for Chinese Studies, 1992); Min Li, Zhongyue Zhangsheng Shinian (Ten years of Sino-Vietnamese War) (Chengdu: Sichuan Daxue Chubanshe, 1993); Steven J. Hood, Dragons Entangled: Indo-China and the China-Vietnam War (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1992); Xiaoming Zhang, “China’s 1979 War with Vietnam: A Reassessment,” China Quarterly 184 (December 2005), 851–874; Odd Arne Westad and Sophie Quinn-Judge, eds., The Third Indochina War: Conflict between China, Vietnam and Cambodia, 1972–79 (London; Routledge, 2006); Chang Pao-min, “The Sino-Vietnamese Conflict and Its Implications for ASEAN,” Pacific Affairs 60:4 (Winter, 1987–1988), 629–648; Nicholas Khoo, Collateral Damage: Sino-Soviet Rivalry and the Termination of the Sino-Vietnamese Alliance (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011); and E.S. Ungar, “The Struggle Over the Chinese Community in Vietnam, 1946–1986,” Pacific Affairs 60:4 (Winter 1987–1988), 596–614.

  47. 47.

    Yuk Wah Chan, ed., The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora: Revisiting the Boat People (New York: Routledge, 2011), Part I, provides a regional perspective on this issue.

  48. 48.

    SCMP (May 9, 1978).

  49. 49.

    SCMP (June 8, 1978).

  50. 50.

    ODN (June 8, 1978).

  51. 51.

    SCMP (June 29, 1978).

  52. 52.

    MP (June 9, 1978).

  53. 53.

    Chinese Press Review No. 73 (June 7–13, 1978) (HKRS).

  54. 54.

    SCMP (June 25, 1978).

  55. 55.

    SCMP (June 25, 1978); and WKMP (June 25, 1978).

  56. 56.

    HKS (June 25, 1978).

  57. 57.

    MP (July 5, 1978).

  58. 58.

    Immigration from China to Hong Kong, FCO40/1109.

  59. 59.

    SCMP (November 16, 1978); MP (December 7, 1978); and KSEN (December 9, 1978).

  60. 60.

    GIS to News Editors, December 23, 1978 (HKRS).

  61. 61.

    HKS (December 23, 1978).

  62. 62.

    KSEN (December 24, 1978).

  63. 63.

    HKS (December 26, 1978).

  64. 64.

    KSEN (December 27, 1978).

  65. 65.

    WKMP (December 27, 1978).

  66. 66.

    KSDN (December 28, 1978).

  67. 67.

    WWP (December 30, 1978); and CP (December 30, 1978).

  68. 68.

    FCO40/1088.

  69. 69.

    HKSR70-8-3835.

  70. 70.

    SP (January 1, 1979).

  71. 71.

    GIS to news editors, January 8, 1979 (HKRS).

  72. 72.

    SCMP (January 5, 1979).

  73. 73.

    KSEN (January 5, 1979).

  74. 74.

    SCMP (January 19, 1979); STDN (January 20, 1979); and HKS (January 21, 1979).

  75. 75.

    SCMP (January 22, 1979).

  76. 76.

    GIS to news editors, January 19, 1979 (HKRS).

  77. 77.

    SCMP (January 19, 1979).

  78. 78.

    Confidential Telegram from I.G. Orr to P. Morgan, United Nations Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, January 15, 1979, FCO40/1089.

  79. 79.

    HKS (January 23, 1979); and TTDN (January 24, 1979).

  80. 80.

    HKS (January 26, 1979); KSDN (January 27, 1979); STDN (January 27, 1979); MP (January 27, 1979); TKP (January 27, 1979); and SCMP (January 27, 1979).

  81. 81.

    SCMP (February 8, 1979).

  82. 82.

    HKS (February 8, 1979).

  83. 83.

    SCMP (February 18, 1979); STDN (February 19, 1979); WKMP (February 19, 1979); STDN (February 20, 1979); and KSDN (February 24, 1979).

  84. 84.

    SCMP (February 24, 1979).

  85. 85.

    SCMP (February 24, 1979); HKS (February 27, 1979); and OD (February 27, 1979).

  86. 86.

    HKS (March 5, 1979).

  87. 87.

    FCO40/1109.

  88. 88.

    FSBP (April 1988), Appendix A.

  89. 89.

    HKS (February 19, 1979).

  90. 90.

    STDN (March 15, 1979); SCMP (March 15, 1979); and HKS (March 15, 1979).

  91. 91.

    SCMP (August 9, 1979); KSDN (August 9, 1979); KSDN (August 10, 1979); MP (August 10, 1979); and HKS (August 10, 1979).

  92. 92.

    KSDN (March 29, 1979).

  93. 93.

    “Firm stance for Refugee problem urged,” HKRS70-8-3835 (March 29, 1979); OD (March 30, 1979); HKDN (March 30, 1979); and KSDN (March 30, 1979).

  94. 94.

    STDN (July 9, 1979); and WKMP (July 4, 1979).

  95. 95.

    KSEN (July 12, 1979); and HKS (July 13, 1979).

  96. 96.

    Judith Kumin, “Orderly Departure from Vietnam: Cold War Anomaly or Humanitarian Innovation?” Refugee Survey Quarterly 27:1 (March 2008), 104–117.

  97. 97.

    HKS (August 10, 1979).

  98. 98.

    OP (August 10, 1979).

  99. 99.

    HKS (August 12, 1979).

  100. 100.

    HKS (August 12, 1979).

  101. 101.

    MP (August 12, 1979).

  102. 102.

    STDN (August 23, 1979); WKYP (August 22, 1979); STDN (August 24, 1979); ODN (August 22, 1979); and TFDN (August 22, 1979).

  103. 103.

    My analysis concurs with that by Ramses Amer, who highlighted the boatpeople crisis as a 1979 phenomenon in Hong Kong, also noting the preponderance of ethnic Chinese among the boat people in that period. Ramses Amer, “The Boat People Crisis of 1978–79 and the Hong Kong Experience Examined through the Ethnic Chinese Dimension,” in The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora, ed. Yuk Wah Chan, 46.

  104. 104.

    FSBP (October 1988).

  105. 105.

    Astri Suhrke, “Indochinese Refugees: The Law and Politics of First Asylum,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 467 (May 1983), The Global Refugee Problem: U.S. and World Response, 102–115.

  106. 106.

    FSBP (September 1988).

  107. 107.

    FSBP (October 1995); and James C. Hathaway, “Labelling the ‘Boat People’: The Failure of the Human Rights Mandate of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees,” Human Rights Quarterly 15:4 (November 1993), 686–702.

  108. 108.

    Yuk Wah Chan, “Revisiting the Vietnamese Refugee Era: An Asian Perspective from Hong Kong,” in The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora, ed. Yuk Wah Chan, 8.

  109. 109.

    For a rare exception, see Ronald Skeldon, “Hong Kong’s Response to the Indochinese Influx, 1975–93,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 534, Strategies for Immigration Control: An International Comparison (July 1994), 91–105.

  110. 110.

    Niall Ferguson et al., eds., The Shock of the Global: The 1970s in Perspective (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010).

  111. 111.

    The earlier experience resonates with Aihwa Ong’s portrayal of flexible citizenship, while the later encounter parallels her description of Cambodian refugees in America. Aihwa Ong, Buddha Is Hiding: Refugees, Citizenship, the New America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003); and Aihwa Ong, Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong Studies, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

    John D. Wong

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Correspondence to John D. Wong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. City University of Macau, Taipa, Macao

    Priscilla Roberts

  2. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Odd Arne Westad

Abbreviations

HKRS

Hong Kong Records Series

FCO40

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hong Kong Department: Chinese Press Reviews

FSBP

Fact Sheet, Boat People: Vietnamese Refugees in Hong Kong: GIS releases to News Editors

CP

Ching Pao

HKDN

Hong Kong Daily News

HKS

Hong Kong Star

HKT

Hong Kong Times

KSDN

Kung Sheung Daily News

KSEN

Kung Sheung Evening News

MP

Ming Pao

ODN

Oriental Daily News

SCMP

South China Morning Post

SP

Sing Pao

STDN

Sing Tao Daily News

TE

The Express

TFDN

Tin Fung Daily News

TKP

Ta Kung Pao

TTDN

Tin Tin Daily News

TTEN

Tin Tin Evening News

WKMP

Wah Kiu Man Po

WKYP

Wah Kiu Yat Po

WWP

Wen Wei Po

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Wong, J.D. (2017). “Bat lau dung laai”: Shifting Hong Kong Perspectives Toward the Vietnamese Boatpeople. In: Roberts, P., Westad, O. (eds) China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970s: Global Perspectives. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51250-1_12

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