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assured that the case for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong would be considered sympathetically. For example, Lord Glenarthur (then FCO Minister with responsibilities for Hong Kong) said during a debate on Hong Kong's ethnic minorities on 16 May, 1986, that "
in response to the concern of the ethnic minority community in Hong Kong with no other form of nationality, the Government have, however, already made it plain, and I am happy to repeat again now, that if any British national came under pressure to leave Hong Kong we would expect the government of the day to consider sympathetically their case for admission to the United Kingdom. Mr John Swaine, the convenor in
Hong Kong of the ad hoc group on the nationality order, has been quoted in the press as describing this as a strong moral commitment. Indeed it is. I am sure that the whole House will recognise that and will want to endorse this commitment. The assurance it offers together with the guarantee of nationality and the right of abode, provide the ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong with the highest possible degree of security and confidence in the future."
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