The refugees said the ethnic Chinese do not leave in secret. The boats are openly loaded not only with supplies for the trip but also with goods that will be needed in Malaysia. Because in Vietnam it is said that salt and building tools are scarce in Malaysia, sacks of salt and many hammers, saws and nails are loaded. Often, according to witnesses, relatives of those departing are allowed at pierside with their farewell gifts. The most politically sophisticated refugees say Vietnam helps the Chinese leave both to acquire their gold and foreign-currency holdings and to relieve the country of an economic class for which there is no further use.
All refugees forfeit their visible belongings, particularly houses and lands, to the state.
But the Chinese, a largely landless merchant and artisan class, have put their savings in gold. Vietnam, which is short of convertible currencies, gives the Chinese the choice of leaving for a price or being sent to new economic zones that have infertile land. The refugees say the richest Chinese have probably left by now because the price demanded by Government agents has been dropping. Depending on the region, prices have averaged about seven tablets of gold, sometimes less. Rivals Vietnamese who did not have important positions in the old regime can sometimes buy Chinese identity cards for two tablets of gold, refugees here said.