CONFIDENTIAL
HKB 011/8
105
135354
MDHIAN 1292
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 4172
OF 11110OZ NOVEMBER 88
RECEIVE
14 NOV 1988
་ཀ་
N
COPY DIST ?
INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, UKMIS GENEVA
LEGCO DEBATE ON MY POLICY ADDRESS:
SUMMARY OF POINTS OF INTEREST TO HMG
►
1 IN TWO LONG SESSIONS ON 9 AND 10 NOVEMBER, 45 MEMBERS SPOKE IN THE DEBATE ON THE MOTION OF THANKS ON MY POLICY ADDRESS TO LEGCO ON 12 OCTOBER. OFFICIAL MEMBERS WILL REPLY AT THE COUNCIL'S NEXT SITTING ON
16 NOVEMBER.
2. ALL BUT ONE OF THE SPEECHES WERE GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THE
PILICY DIRECTIVES SPELLED OUT IN MY ADDRESS. MARTIN LEE CRITICISED THE ADDRESS AS BEING DEVOID OF VISION AND FAILING TO PROVIDE PERSPECTIVE.
3.
TWO ISSUES RAISED BY MEMBERS WILL BE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOU:
(A) VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. 13 MEMBERS CALLED ON HMG TO DO MORE FOR HONG KONG BY ACCEPTING MORE THAN 20 A MONTH FOR RESETTLEMENT. HMG'S RECORD WAS COMPARED UNFAVOURABLY TO THOSE OF THE OTHER RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR AUSTRALIA AND CANADA. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT OTHERS COULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO HELP HONG KONG WHILE
HMG WAS DOING SO LITTLE. THERE WERE CALLS FOR HMG TO ''SOLVE'' THE PROBLEM BEFORE 1997 BY INCREASING ITS OFFTAKE TO BETWEEN 600 AND 1000
PER ANNUM.
(B) WIVES AND WIDOWS OF EX-SERVICEMEN. THREE MEMBERS (INCLUDING THE
SENIOR MEMBER) CALLED ON HMG TO GRANT BRITISH PASSPORTS TO THE 30-0DD WIVES AND WIDOWS OF EX-SERVICEMEN. DESCRIBING THE DECISION TO
REQUIRE THESE LADIES TO COMPLY WITH A MINIMUM LENGTH OF STAY IN U K AS ''PATHETIC AND DISGRACEFUL'', HMG WAS URGED TO RECONSIDER THE MATTER.
WILSON
YYYY
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