4
Of course, many people here would have preferred the
numbers covered by the scheme to be larger. We want
the scheme to have the strongest possible impact on
confidence. But we have had to balance this desire
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 anything less than citizenship would not match the
needs of Hong Kong. We chose the high road. Our
obligations 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 mandatory
repatriation of 51 Vietnamese Boat People.
This was
not a decision which I relished, nor an operation which
I find in any way attractive.
But it was right to
proceed, and to face the inevitable criticism from
people in Britain and around the world.