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, thereby benefitting the community as a whole in Hong
Kong.
We 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
place in which to live and work, up to 1997 and beyond. The
measures we have announced are an essential and indispensable element of that policy.
I hope that this goes some way to reassure you on this issue.
Margaret Thatcher