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(d) to promote long term British commercial and political objectives in the territory, including the establishment of
a Consulate General.
3. All of these tasks would be facilitated by positive
cooperation from the Chinese Government, and conversely,
would be made more difficult without such cooperation.
Airport
4. Hong Kong's proposed Port and Airport Development Strategy (PADS), originally announced in October 1989, has
been the object of difficult discussions with China.(Chinese support needed to ensure private investor confidence about commitments straddling 1997). Hong Kong's international
reputation has suffered from the protracted failure to
agree, a Chinese propaganda campaign and widespread concern
about the role which China sought in the administration of
Hong Kong before 1997. The initialling and publication on
4 July of a Memorandum of Understanding should at least partially restore confidence. We hope the Understanding
will enable us to secure a more constructive attitude from
the Chinese on other matters. (Failure to agree would have
led to confrontation and a Chinese withdrawal of cooperation
across the board.
Right of abode schemes
5. The British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 provides for the issue of 50,000 UK passports, to help anchor key Hong Kong people in the territory. We have been lobbying
extensively for other countries to provide similar forms of
assurance to Hong Kong people. The United States
Immigration Act 1990 includes the following helpful provisions:
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