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Lord Sharp of Grimsdyke/CBE
Chairman and Chief Executive
New Mercury House
26 Red Lion Square
London WC1R 4UQ
Thank you for your letter of 6 June enclosing one from Mr E P Ho about the position of the Eurasian or Anglo-Chinese community in Hong Kong.
Ministers are well aware of the concerns of this group. When devising the scheme embodied in the British Nationality
(Hong Kong) Bill, they took very careful note of all the representations from this and similar groups, including the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. They concluded that they could not treat this group as a special category within the scheme, although they will of course be eligible to apply for British citizenship under the scheme. Each case will be assessed fairly and on its merits.
As you may know, Ministers have also given a specific assurance in Parliament, in the context of the non Chinese ethnic minorities, that if, against all expectations, these people came under pressure to leave Hong Kong in the future, we would expect the Government of the day to consider their case for admission here with very considerable and particular sympathy. That assurance applies with equal force to the Eurasian or Anglo-Chinese community in Hong Kong.
HUGAAP
RJT McLaren
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