A SENIOR mainland official yesterday warned that the ultimate solution to the problem of Vietnamese refugees fleeing China was to repatriate them to Vietnam.
Refugee official Xu Liugen said the Vietnamese - most of whom were ethnic Chinese and had lived in China for more than 12 years - should be sent home ''in accordance with international practice''.
He was commenting on the position of the 2,400 Vietnamese who have arrived in Hong Kong from China over the past few months. Only 109 have been sent back to the mainland.
Mr Xu did not made clear whether his remarks applied only to those Vietnamese who had fled to Hong Kong or all those living on the mainland.
Most of the Vietnamese living in China fled there in the late 1970s during the boat people crisis.
China accepted them as refugees because most of them were ethnic Chinese. They were allowed to settle in China and many live in Guangxi province.