The second decision was our proposal to offer full British citizenship to 50,000 key people in Hong Kong and their dependents. The events in China obliged us to act in order to stem the outflow of key people in the public and private sectors on whom Hong Kong's stability and prosperity depend. Again, this has not been an easy decision to take. But it is a matter of honour for the Government that we should discharge our responsibilities towards Hong Kong to the best of our ability; and it is in our interests, given the massive British stake in Hong Kong, that we should keep it stable and prosperous. The Nationality Bill, which was laid before the House in early April, is an indispensable part of our policy on Hong Kong. Without it that policy would have a serious, perhaps a disastrous, gap in it. The Bill deserves the full support of the House.
The third decision, which I announced on
16 February, concerns the development of democracy in Hong Kong. When the Joint Declaration was signed in 1984 there was no elected element of any kind in the legislature. Hong Kong will take a substantial step forward in 1991, with the introduction of 18 directly elected seats in the legislature. The Basic Law provides for further progress in 1997 to 20 directly elected seats with later increases to 24 and 30 seats in 1999 and 2003
respectively. I hope that the Chinese authorities will in time agree to accelerate that pace. In any case, Hong Kong can be reasonably satisfied with an outcome which ensures that the system which we establish will be carried forward and further developed after 1997, thereby removing a major uncertainty about the future. That is a