CONFIDENTIAL
Debates have now been held in both Houses.
You will, I am sure, have received reports on these from David Waddington and Simon Glenarthur. In the Commons almost every speaker urged the Government to make concessions, though a few on the Government side suggested that to concede British citizenship to the ethnic minorities would be wrong at this stage. In the Lords, no-one spoke in favour of the Government : most of the speakers favoured concessions on all three of the Legislative Council requests, with particular emphasis on the extension of British
citizenship to the ethnic minorities.
If we make no concessions on any of these proposals, the Governor of Hong Kong has advised that there will be an open confrontation between HMG and
the Hong Kong Legislative Council. We have managed, not always easily, to come through the last three difficult years in Hong Kong, including the period of the conclusion of the agreement, without such a confrontation to fail now would be very damaging,
not least to the Hong Kong Government, and it would
undermine what we have achieved so far by the agree-
ment.
If we make no moves, the Unofficial members
of the Hong Kong Executive and Legislative Councils
will not give up they will send a delegation here
to lobby the Prime Minister, and they will lobby
extensively in Parliament against the Crder.
it cannot be amended in Parliament when we put it
forward for final approval, they will ask for its
rejection. I therefore think that we need to
consider what moves might be possible.
Since
CONFIDENTIAL
/The Governor