CONFIDENTIAL
The Commonwealth citizens come from the rural areas (the New Territories) where they have strong family ties with Hong Kong Commonwealth citizens working in this country. It is estimated that the Hong Kong Chinese in the United Kingdom remit between £2 million and £3 million annually to their families in Hong Kong and this must, I think, represent quite a useful injection of money so far as the New Territories are concerned.
5. However, in straight terms of employment it would be possible for those Hong Kong Chinese who seek employment in the United Kingdom to obtain employment locally in Hong Kong if they wished to do so. The fact is that the rate of remuneration which they can expect to receive in this country is considerably higher than that which they would obtain in Hong Kong as unskilled or semi-skilled workers.
6. As regards paragraph 2 c. above, it appears that the Department of Employment and Productivity have prepared a paper for the Ministerial Committee on Immigration on the employment of aliens in the United Kingdom which envisages a substantial reduction in the numbers of work permits to be issued to unskilled or semi-skilled workers in the hotel and catering trade. If this proposal is implemented it will have a very definite effect on the numbers of stateless Chinese from Hong Kong who at present obtain work permits more easily than citizens of the UK and colonies in Hong Kong can obtain employment vouchers. The Governor is not of course aware of this proposal and although it would provide one answer to the argument mentioned in paragraph 2 c. above, it would not be a particularly palatable one from his point of view.
7. Despite the comments that have been recorded objecting to the suggestion that Hong Kong's annual allocation of employment vouchers for citizens of the UK and Colonies should, subject to annual review, be increased from 200 to 240 per annum, I would strongly support the proposal for the reasons in paragraphs 2 a., 2 b. and 6 above and in the interests of good relations between HMG and Hong Kong. If we could agree to such an increase it would at least show that we were trying to help and it might serve to mitigate, at least to some extent, the bitterness of feeling which our new immigration legislation is bound to foster in Hong Kong.
An
Ammara.
A W Gaminara
30 March 1971
2
CONFIDENTIAL