L
749
Events in China:
[LORD GLENARTHUR.]
[ LORDS]
some 120 British and Commonwealth students on board has been dispatched to the airport to catch that plane.
There are about 860 British subjects in China, nearly 500 of whom are in Peking and Shanghai. We do not know how many Hong Kong people there are in China because they rarely register with the British embassy.
I certainly agree with both noble Lords that the reporting that we have all seen on the BBC and in the papers has been absolutely first-class. I too join with those who praise the bravery of those journalists who have undertaken that reporting.
So far as concerns further consideration of the position of Hong Kong, I note what the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, suggests about an international mechanism to look at the process for taking Hong Kong forward in the light of recent developments. I believe that there are difficulties in that respect because, irrespective of what has happened over the last few days, both sides are committed to the joint declaration and to how that should be taken forward.
So far as concerns the right of abode here or anywhere else-another point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter-we all sympathise deeply with the people of Hong Kong at this particularly worrying time and understand their anxiety to secure some form of ultimate assurance for themselves and their families. So far as concerns the establishment of some sort of wider international mechanism to take those people that is an interesting proposition, but it nevertheless poses problems. We shall have to consider that matter, as we consider other matters, during a period of careful and sympathetic consideration as to whether anything can be done to meet those concerns.
So far as concerns the review of the Basic Law and other aspects which the noble Lord, Lord Cledwyn, raised, these are matters that we shall have to look at in the light of the circumstances that prevail. Naturally, we shall need to consult the governor-who has postponed his visit to this country but may nevertheless be able to come in the not too distant future-before any mechanism can be established. But I assure the noble Lord that the point that he has made will be fully taken on board.
Lord Wyatt of Weeford: My Lords, perhaps I may thank the noble Lord for his welcome indication that there will now be greater flexibility in granting passports with the right of abode to Hong Kong citizens. However, will he bear in mind that it is quite absurd to suppose that 3-2 million people would come here? They want those passports with the right of abode as an insurance against the Chinese turning nasty. Is the noble Lord aware that the possession of those passports will be a great bar to the Chinese turning nasty and that they may never be used at all? They are only an insurance policy. It is not an opening of the flood gates to mass immigration here.
Lord Glenarthur: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Wyatt of Weeford, has made that point on a number
Implications for Hong Kong
750
of occasions and I am well aware of it. As I have said to him in the past. and while not failing to grasp for one moment the significance of what has happened in recent days, it is difficult to contemplate legislation on the basis that it would never be used. That is the point that I hope the noble Lord will understand. I think that my right honourable friend's Statement is quite clear as to the views which will be taken and have been taken over successive Parliaments of the immigration policies that have been pursued and the significance of the fact that the proposal would more than double the ethnic minority in this country. Nevertheless, as I have said, we shall have to consider in the light of the circumstances that prevail whether or not something else can be done to meet the concerns of the Hong Kong people. I hope that the noble Lord will take that assurance as it is meant.
Lord Walston: My Lords, perhaps I may first thank the noble Lord for repeating the strong and forthright Statement of his right honourable and learned friend; it is good to listen to it. Perhaps I may also support the plea of the noble Lord, Lord Wyatt of Weeford, concerning the right of abode in this country. There is great deal of force in what he says. I am quite sure that the granting of the right of abode would have a significant effect upon the way that the Chinese will treat the Chinese residents of Hong Kong.
At the risk of perhaps speaking unduly frankly, I cannot help feeling that the statement that:
"We share the desire of the House to do everything we can to enhance the security of the people of Hong Kong",
verges on the hypocritical. They are not doing "everything we can". To do "everything we can" would be to grant the right of abode. The Statement would perhaps be more accurate if it were to say that we share the desire to do quite a lot of things that we can, but not all of them. I urge upon the noble Lord the arguments of both the noble Lords, Lord Wyatt and Lord Bonham-Carter, to look seriously and urgently at the possibility of making some serious concession in that direction.
I should like to ask the Minister one rather small question which he may or may not be able to answer. I do not know whether he or other noble Lords watched breakfast television on the BBC this morning in which there was a short interview with a Chinese student from Hong Kong who had serious complaints about the failure of the British embassy in Peking to help her when she appealed to it for help. I am well aware of the enormous burden that must be placed on the embassy and its staff, and I am sure that they are responding admirably. However, it is disturbing when somebody from Hong Kong comes on television in this country and says that she met with far less help than she had hoped for when she was in dire difficulties. Perhaps the noble Lord could take a look at that matter if, as I suspect is the case, he does not know about it already.
Lord Glenarthur: My Lords, on the first point which the noble Lord raised, I do not think that I can add to what I have already said in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Wyatt of Weeford. As is made