23-JUL-1991 16:44
FCO HONG KONG DEPT.
012703387
P.02
LORD CAITHNESS' VISIT TO HONG KONG, 22-28 JULY 1991
Dependent Territories Work Permit Quota
(Additional Supplementaries)
Bull Points (if raised)
By definition, there is never a good time to do away with a concession, but its time has come.
It would have been logical to announce the end of this anomaly without delay, but we are phasing it out gradually to allow Dependent Territories to adjust.
This means that between 1991 and 1994, 350 Hong Kong people will receive work permits that otherwise would not have done. That is the message on which Hong Kong should
focus.
INCONSISTENT WITH (BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) ACT 1990/SENDS WRONG SIGNAL TO HONG KONG? (Defensive)
- No connection whatsoever between this and the 1990 Act. Rundown of the DTWPQ applies to all Dependent Territories.
- DTWPQ caters for unskilled or semi-skilled labour in all the Dependent Territories, BNHKA 1990 aplies to key people
in Hong Kong.
-
DTWPQ is being phased out because it is anomalous and
inconsistent with our immigration control. Not for any
reason connected with Hong Kong.
No justification for preserving it for Hong Kong and phasing it out for the other Dependent Territories. It is just as anomalous in relation to HK as it is to the other
Dependent Territories.
KIPAGU/1
TG