You suggest that British passport-holders will be the victims of discrimination after 1997. I do not share your pessimism, in respect of either the private or public sector, The Joint Declaration makes special provision for British or other foreign nationals, both to continue to be employed and to be recruited into public service posts after 1997 at all levels except as Heads of major government departments.
You also suggest that granting British citizenship to 50,000 families would in some way strengthen the demands of other Hong Kong citizens for similar treatment. I do not accept this reasoning.
Our inability to grant the right of abode in Britain to all Hong Kong people is now understood and accepted in the territory. In the event of a crisis, such as a complete collapse in confidence in Hong
We would look Kong, we would be in a totally different situation.
to our friends and partners to help us deal with it. But we are far from such a situation now, and our present policy, including the proposed nationality package, is designed to help to ensure that it
never occurs.
I do not agree that the proposed legislation will undermine the credibility of the Government's immigration policy. As I made clear in my statement on 20 December, our proposals will be restricted to Hong Kong and the unique situation which we face there.
They have
no relevance to other people elsewhere, and the principles of the 1981 British Nationality Act will remain intact. Moreover they are designed not to encourage immigration into this country but to persuade key people to remain in Hong Kong and contribute to its continued success and stability.
You suggest that the proposals are unnecessary because the intended beneficiaries could come here under the existing Immigration Rules. It may well be that some would qualify, for example, as businessmen or under the work permit scheme; but in order to gain settlement for themselves and their families they would have to leave Hong Kong taking their assets with them. is precisely the opposite of what we are trying to achieve for Hong Kong, as the foregoing paragraphs will, I hope, have made clear.
That