10
Council of Hongkong Indian Associations
Member Associations :
THE INDIAN CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
THE HINDU ASSOCIATION
c/o TST P.O. BOX 95106, HONG KONG
Telex: 43500-HARI-HX Cable "INDCOUNCIL" Tel: 3-7218844
THE INDIA ASSOCIATION THE INDIA CLUB
THE KHALSA DIWAN
521678
3.; 4.
Mir Emery
THE HONG KONG INDIAN WOMEN'S CLUB
THE NAV BHARAT CLUB
3rd March, 1986
Rt. Hon. Douglas Hurd, MP
-6 MAR 1986 PRIVATE SECRETAR
Secretary of State for the Home Departmen
Home Office
Queen Anne's Gate
London S.W.1
Dear Mr. Hurd,
We are writing to further confirm a point brought up in our letter to you of 17th February 1986.
Mr. Xu Jiatun, Director of the New China News Agency in Hong Kong, held a luncheon in honour of the Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations on 1st March, and officials from both sides were present. Various matters were discussed, and inevitably the subject of nationality was raised. It was brought to Mr. Xu's attention that one of the arguments used by HMG against granting non-ethnic Chinese BDTCs full British citizenship and the right of abode in the UK was that it would suggest to the PRC a lack of confidence in the Sino-British Agreement. We asked Mr. Xu if this was in fact the view of the PRC.
He stated very clearly that this was not the case, and that the PRC instead felt that Britain should grant the non-ethnic Chinese BDTCs their request so as to put their minds at ease. Mr. Xu then went on to say that the PRC welcomed the minorities to stay on in Hong Kong after 1997, and he believed that their resolve to remain here would be considerably strengthened if they were given the right to reside in Britain. He felt that even if this right were to be granted, very few people would actually leave Hong Kong.
We wish to point out that the above does not alter in any way the arguments used by us in our previous letter to you. Our meeting with Mr. Xu and other officials from the New China News Agency merely confirms the views of the PRC as stated by us in
President: MR. H. N. HARILELA, OBE JP
Vice President: MR. K. SITAL, JP
en pary
GISTRY
Conta 14 MAR 1986
RECEIVED
Hon. Secretary: MR. K. B. RATHI
Hon. Treasurer: MR. J. MULCHAND
Council Members: MR. S. A. AMEEN MRS. KAMLA KAPAHI MR. G. B. MAHBUBANI MR. LACHMAN NARAIN