07-JUN-1993
E4 DE LO EPPOOL
44 051 336 3086 F.12
point
under pressure to leave Hong Kong the British government of the day would consider with particular sympathy their case for admission to the United Kingdom. The Government cannot tie the hands of any future Government. This is as clear and as firm an undertaking as it can give.
Line to take
The ethnic minorities ties are with Hong Kong rather than the UK and it is therefore more appropriate to look to ensure their security in Hong Kong than to confer British citizenship on them. The Government's view is that there is no case for special
treatment. The position of the ethnic minorities has adequately protected, both in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law been
and also by the assurances which the Government has given about the action it would take in the event of an emergency and which it is very ready to repeat.