The comparison between English people settling in Wales and
the measures the Government are taking to restore confidence in Hong Kong is not entirely relevant, for it misinterprets the central purpose of the citizenship scheme.
The Government is proposing to grant British citizenship to a limited number of key people without them ever having to come to Britain in order to qualify for this. The scheme will cover a maximum of 50,000 households which when dependants are included means a total of up to 225,000 people. The scheme will be selective. People will qualify under a fair points system similar to the systems operated by Canada and Australia in their immigration policies. Priority will be given to such factors as an employee's importance to his employer's business, professional qualifications, personal links with Britain and the ability to speak English.
These measures are designed not to encourage immigration into this country but to persuade people to stay in Hong Kong, where they can continue to make their contribution to the success of the territory,
The thereby benefitting the community as a whole in Hong Kong. Government must bolster confidence now in order to avert a collapse of confidence in the future, which could lead to very large numbers of people from Hong Kong seeking admission to Britain. Indeed, the objective of our whole policy over Hong Kong is to give people there confidence in the future, on the basis of the Sino British Joint Declaration, and to ensure that Hong Kong remains an attractive
The place in which to live and work, up to 1997 and beyond. measures recently announced are an essential and indispensable
element of that policy.
POPADQ