RESTRICTED
HKD 340/4
28 February 1991
13
DEBA
INDER
P W Heap Esq CMG
British Trade Commission
Hong Kong
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1 2AH
Dear Peter,
THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE HONG KONG NATIONALITY PACKAGE
1.
Thank you for your letter of 25 February enclosing a copy of a draft statement from the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce about the Nationality package.
2.
It is helpful to know of the extent of the Chamber's disappointment and dissatisfaction about the scheme, although I must say I find the statement decidedly over the top and unlikely to win many friends or much influence in the Hong Kong Government.
3. I wonder whether the reasons given by the Chamber for the lower than expected response really are the right ones. My own view, for what it is worth, is that the low response can be attributed to :
4.
(a)
The fact that more people than expected have in fact already obtained foreign passports;
(b) A large degree of "pre self deselection" by individuals who, having carefully assessed the number of points they were likely to acquire, decided not to apply and thus avoid the loss of face involved in failure;
(c) The likelihood that many of those who would be likely to succeed under the British Nationality package have decided to emigrate to other destinations.
Human nature being what it is, however, it is of course understandable that people in Hong Kong would tend to give the sort of reasons listed in the Chamber of Commerce letter, rather than the ones I have indicated, to justify their decision not to apply.
cc : David Love Esq
OT2/2 DTI
WINAJG
сс
ever
Yours
Alan
A R Paul
FILE.
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