Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
2 May 1990
From The Minister of State
The Hon. Francis, Maude MP
字
Tsui Wai-Chun Esq
Chairman
Junior Police Officers' Association
Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Kowloon District Police Headquarters Argyle Street
Kowloon
Hong Kong
NUR now
tea de Pouillon-cum
Thank you for your letter of 9 April, which was handed to me in Hong Kong and for your letter of 20 March to Peter Lloyd at the Home Office about the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill..
As you know, the Bill is designed to give key personnel, whom Hong Kong can least afford to lose, the assurance they need to remain in the territory, and to continue to
- contribute to Hong Kong's successful government and
increased prosperity.
We are of course aware of the concern felt by many people in the junior ranks of the disciplined services that they should have an equal chance of success under the assurance scheme. But I am afraid the reality is that, within the numerical limits imposed by the Bill it would not be possible to grant all Junior Police Officers, nor retired Police Officers, the right of abode in the UK. Having said that, the scheme is not yet finalized and we shall take into account any changes that need to be made before it is finally presented to Parliament for approval.
The Government realise that this will inevitably cause some disappointment to those who apply and are unsuccessful but we do not agree that the scheme will have a divisive effect