This study exams the metamorphosis of government policy and stands on the issue of Vietnamese asylum seekers in Hong Kong between 1975 and 2000.The colonial government at first adopted a primarily reactive and accommodating position in its policy toward the continual influxes of Vietnamese boat people,but there was a gradual shift from reactive measures to more deliberate control and strict practices over time.In this study,the reasons for this change are analyzed from a geopolitical viewpoint,to see how the international politics,regional location and public interests influenced on the government policy towards the Vietnamese asylum seekers in Hong Kong.Last three decades,over 213,000 Vietnamese landed in Hong Kong seeking for temporary asylum.It marked a turning point in the Hong Kong’s history of refugee.The government implemented several policies to stem the influxes at different period of time.After its declaration of being the port of first asylum in 1979,all asylum seekers landed in its territory were automatically granted temporary refuge.This liberal policy and its geographical location attracted more boat people to come and Hong Kong soon became a main destination for seeking asylum in the Southeast Asia.A series of deterrence measures,namely the closed camp policy and the screening,were accordingly carried out.The screened-outs were recognized as non-refugees that ineligible for resettlement in third countries and need to be repatriated.All non-refugees had to be returned to Vietnam until the handover of sovereignty in 1997.There were several reasons contributed to the changes of characteristic of refugee policies practiced in Hong Kong.When the influx of Vietnamese boot people was decreasing in the late 1980s,the Western countries,such as the United States,withdrew their promises to resettle the refugees who landed up on Asia shores.Such international politics primarily reflected the government’s reactive measures against the boat people.Besides,the financial assistance from the UNHCR on refugee issue was greatly cut.Hong Kong was left with no choice but to initiate a screening and repatriation with the auspices of the British Government.On another level,the hidden influence of the changing political priorities was also at work.Since the mid 1980s,the Chinese Government had consistently put heavy pressure to Britain on the boat people issue in Hong Kong.It,to a large extent,forced the British Government to face up the problem and directly affected the colonial government on its policy-making.There were at least five determinate factors influenced the Vietnamese refugee policy-making in Hong Kong from 1975 to the period after the handover in 1997.Those are: (1) the changing international situation after the end of the Cold War,(2) the radical and defensive refugee measures practiced in other first asylum countries,(3) political constraints from the Governments of Britain and China,(4) lack of practical experience and time,and (5) the plethora of public pressure.The first three factors are considered as external ones that pushed the Hong Kong Government to change its liberal policy to a more restrictive one; while the latter two elements are identified as internal cause.