consultation in Hong Kong a second draft was published in
February 1989 for further public consultation. A final draft was
prepared in February 1990, and was promulgated by the Chinese
National People's Congress on 4 April.
5.
The British Government followed the drafting process extremely
closely and maintained a detailed dialogue with the Chinese behind
the scenes. As a result of our representations, a number of
amendments have been made. Although there are some provisions which
we would have worded differently, the Basic Law is on the whole an acceptable reflection of the Joint Declaration.
Nationality
6. The exodus of talent from Hong Kong is a problem which the
British Government takes very seriously. On 20 December 1989 the
Foreign Secretary announced in the House of Commons a package of
measures designed to give key people in the public and private
sectors the confidence to remain in Hong Kong. Under this scheme
full British passports will be offered to a maximum of 50,000 heads of household in the public and private sectors, without the
beneficiary having to leave the territory. The British Nationality
(Hong Kong) Bill, a piece of legislation designed to implement the
scheme, was introduced in the House of Commons on 4 April and
received its Second Reading on 19 April.
7.
Despite some inevitable disappointment over numbers, the initial
reaction in Hong Kong to the announcement of the package was a
cautious welcome. However, the Chinese Government have made a
number of unhelpful statements denouncing the scheme as a violation
of the Joint Declaration and a device to maintain British influence
after 1997. They have also tried to undermine the scheme by
indicating that recipients of British passports would not be
eligible for British consular protection in Hong Kong after 1997 and by extending the nationality qualifications for posts in the SAR
Government laid down in the Basic Law.
8 Since announcing our nationality package, we have been taking
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