THE PRIME MINISTER
MON
10 DOWNING STREET
LONDON SW1A 2AA
нко
HRD 340/4
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
1 1 APR 1990
pa. (52/3
HKD112
PS/M maude Mr Mclaren бако 23/2
23 February 1990
See 98
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
*GISTRY
PA
Action Taken
Jean
can Weistön
Thank you for your letter of 29 December about the Government's Hong Kong nationality package.
You will have received Douglas Hurd's and David Waddington's letter of 9 February, explaining why we have decided to give British citizenship to 50,000 key people in Hong Kong and their dependants. I hope that letter will have reassured you that our proposals are designed to stem, rather than encourage, emigration from Hong Kong. They are an essential part of our effort to retain confidence in Hong Kong.
You mention some statistics. In fact, about 175,000 people from the Indian Sub Continent were accepted for settlement here between 1979 and 1988. The annual figures have fallen substantially from 24,000 in 1979 to 18,000 in 1985, and 12,000 in 1988 (although the 1988 figure is partly reduced by temporary effects). The great majority of these people were the spouses and children of people already settled, or born here, reflecting the Government's long standing commitment to allow families to live together. It would not therefore be possible to halve the current rate of immigration from the Indian Sub Continent.
Yours
ever
Winston S. Churchill, Esq., M.P.
augant