Offer ‘soon’ to colony citizens

Press, 18 December 1989, Page 8

Offer ‘soon’ to colony citizens

NZPA-Reuter London Up to 300,000 people from Hong Kong are to be offered safe haven in Britain but without the right to full British passports when the colony reverts to China in 1997, a London newspaper said on Sunday. In a report quoting authoritative Government sources, the “Sunday Times” said the offer would cover professional people and their families, and the Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, would make an announcement in the next few days. The new package would rely largely on existing legislation and was designed to head off a revolt by rank-and-file parliamentarians of the ruling Conservative Party

who oppose changes in the law to let Hong Kong citizens live in Britain. The legislators warned the Government last Thursday it faced serious opposition if it tried to change the law to grant Hong Kong citizens the right of abode in Britain. The Foreign Office said details of Government plans to give some Hong Kong residents the right to live in Britain had yet to be completed. Officials described the “Sunday Times” report that Mr Hurd intended to offer guarantees but not passports as speculation. Of Hong Kong’s 5.7 million population, more than 3 million have British passports but not the right of

abode. Pressure on Britain to grant residence rights has grown in Hong Kong since China’s military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Peking last June. British newspapers have said Britain is prepared to let in 150,000 Hong Kong citizens. The figure has been described as a compromise between the 300,000 favoured by the Foreign Office and the 100,000 preferred by the Home Office. The “Sunday Times” quoted an unnamed Government Minister as saying that the larger the number of Hong Kong citizens offered the chance to come to Britain after 1997, the less likely it was that many would accept.