13 -
22.
Against this background, I welcome the enactment of
the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act, which provides full
British citizenship and right of abode in the United Kingdom
to
for up
50,000 Hong Kong families.
Parliamentary approval, we intend
under this scheme from 1 December.
to
Subject
to
invite applications
It bears repeating that
the objective of the Act
is to
give those selected the
confidence
to stay in Hong Kong up to and beyond 1997. I
have no doubt that the
community as a whole will benefit
from the continued presence of the people whom this scheme,
and schemes introduced by other countries, will keep in the
territory.
23.
The Government has done what it can to meet the
anxieties of those who, often reluctantly, have considered
leaving Hong Kong. We will continue to do so. We have also
taken steps to remove the disincentives for those who want
to
return.
But
I
must
make it clear that our primary
concern is with
the
vast
majority of our people who will
stay here
permanently
the real Hong Kong belongers.
I
shall come back later to what is being, and can be, done to
improve their future.
/F.
VIETNAMESE