CONFIDENTIAL
Implications for Hong Kong
9.
Hong Kong's situation is quite different from that of Tibet and other parts of China where ethnic minorities predominate. The Han population in Hong Kong is, by a very long way, in the majority. The situation of Hong Kong minorities is perhaps more analogous to that of a minority community (such as Muslims or Mongolians) in a city such as Peking. These people seem to be reasonably well accepted in the larger Han community in which they live, partly because they do not,, of course, pose a threat to Han dominance.
10. The wealthier members of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong make an important contribution to the Hong Kong economy
(although they and their capital are potentially mobile). Their poorer brethren are fairly well assimilated - for example most speak good Cantonese. These factors, and the fact that the attitude of Hans to ethnic minorities will continue to be highly visible in the case of Hong Kong give grounds for some optimism that the position of Hong Kong's minorities will be reasonably secure after 1997 if they choose (or have no option but) to throw in their lot with the Hong Kong SAR.
Iain Com
I C Orr
Far Eastern Department
CONFIDENTIAL