CONFIDENTIAL
will be announced as soon as possible.
To have the effect we all
want on maintaining Hong Kong's economic growth and social
stability, the scheme will need to cover three important points.
It will need to be as generous as possible: it will need to
minimize divisiveness, so far as possible: and it will need to
ensure that those covered can acquire the right of abode in the UK
without having to leave Hong Kong.
I very much hope that the scheme, when it is announced, will help
to provide greater confidence and stability in our community. Meanwhile it cannot be right to say that we want either everything
or nothing: a scheme that provides something must be better than no
scheme at all.
CONFIDENTIAL