China.
(Questions and answers following Secretary of State's statement 25
October)
KEITH BEST (Conservative)
1. Britain's fine reputation for diplomacy enhanced by Hong Kong
agreement.
(Commons debate on Queen's speech, 9 November).
SIR PETER BLAKER (Conservative)
1. Conservative Party will be happy if the people of Hong Kong are
happy.
(Statement 26 September).
2. Best agreement in circumstances, gives grounds for believing it
will last.
(Commons questions and answers, 25 October)
SIR NICHOLAS BONSOR (Conservative)
1.
It would be possible to amend the agreement before 1997 if it
was found to be unworkable.
(Hong Kong press summary 4 October).
2. British public would not welcome large number of immigrants from
Hong Kong, but would accept plan to issue Hong Kong British passport
holders with special travel document if this did not extend their present rights [to settle in Britain]. Parliament might defer its
debate if local residents have strong reservations about the
agreement or
or if six weeks not long enough to collect opinions.
(GIST 4 October).
3.
Imperative that Hong Kong be represented on the Joint Liaison
Group. Optimistic about persuading China to accept this point, as
China wished to set up the group under terms acceptable to Britain. All British members of JLG should gradually be replaced by local
representatives. Western-style democratic system might not be suitable for Hong Kong. Draft agreement best possible solution for the people of Hong Kong.
Hong
(Hong Kong press conference: Additional Roundup/GIST 11 October).
4. All Assessment Office submissions should be destroyed.
Kong Chinese should be represented during Basic Law drafting process. Children of non-Chinese British travel document holders