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Government. We have done our best to devise a scheme which tackles as fairly and effectively as possible the problem of emigration of talented people from Hong Kong.
Of course, many people here would have preferred the numbers covered by the scheme to be larger. I understand their wish. But we have had to balance our wish to be as generous as possible against our ability to accept people for settlement in Britain should that ever be necessary. I believe this political reality is well understood in Hong Kong. It is a reality which cannot be ignored. Recent controversy at home makes that clear.
We could have gone for an easier option, involving the guarantee of settlement without full British citizenship. We did not do that, because we judged that it was citizenship rather than anything less which would most achieve the purpose of enabling people to stay in Hong Kong with confidence. We want people to continue to contribute to the dynamic prosperity of this territory. We chose the higher road. Our obligation under the Joint Declaration to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity meant that nothing less than this would do, whatever the difficulties.
That is one of two crucial decisions on Hong Kong which we took before Christmas. The second was to authorise the Hong Kong Government to proceed with the first mandatory repatriation of Vietnamese Boat People who have been screened out as non-refugees. This was not a decision which I relished, nor is it an operation which any of those involved liked having to carry out. But it was right to proceed, and to face the inevitable criticism from people in Britain and around the world.
Hong Kong cannot be expected to cope indefinitely with an endless stream of immigrants from Vietnam, most of whom have no prospect of ever finding a home in the West. It is therefore imperative that we find effective ways of deterring this futile exodus and that we empty the camps as quickly as possible. Hong Kong has shouldered this burden for too long.
I turn now to the Basic Law. The drafting process has reached a crucial phase. Throughout this process, Hong Kong people have expressed their opinions about the draft in a thorough and constructive way. I congratulate them on what I believe has been a mature response from an increasingly mature political community. The views of this community deserve the closest possible attention from those responsible for drafting the Basic Law.
The outcome of this process is a matter of major concern to the British Government. It will be a Chinese law. But our responsibilities as co-signatories of the Joint Declaration mean that we have the greatest possible interest in a law intended to implement the provisions of that Agreement. The drafting of the Basic Law is a matter for China. But that has not prevented us from taking every suitable opportunity to get across our views. In doing
we have always respected the wishes of the Chinese Government that this should be done privately and in confidence.
So,