Take a statistic illustrative of the above point
of No Criminal Conviction.
45 some
-
that
of demand from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force of a Certificate
In 1986, such a certificate was
required by
countries to support immigrant visa
applications. Hong Kong Government statistics show that an
overwhelming 97% of demand for a Certificate of No Criminal
Conviction were in support of applications for immigration to
Canada (59%), the United States of America (25%)
(13%).
and Australia
In 1984, there were 21,201 applications for such а
Certificate averaging 1,767 per month. In 1985, there were
21, 128 such applications, averaging 1,761 per month. In 1986,
there were 35,605 such applications, averaging 2,967 per month.
In 1987, there were 51,988 such applications resulting in a
monthly average of 4,332 applications, thereby representing an
unprecedented increase of 46% over the previous year.
In November 1984,
a public opinion poll conducted in
Hong Kong showed that 81% of the people polled thought the terms
of the Agreement were "very good" or "quite good". By July 1987
this percentage had plummetted to only 28%.
A poll conducted by Survey Research Hongkong reported
in the South China Morning Post on July 15, 1987 found that "11%
of the 1,000 households interviewed revealed that they or some of
their members had obtained foreign residency rights" a a figure
that was 2% higher than in April and 4% higher than in February.
SRH concluded that 165,000 of the 1.5 'million Hongkong families
or members of those households had obtained emigration papers,
and that 38% of the professionals, entrepreneurs and executives
would be able to and might leave the territory.
24