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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1983
Q# +MR LUCE, YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS STATED ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS TO HAVE A MORAL COMMITMENT TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. DURING THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS WE HAVE REALLY BEEN SEEING SOME EXAMPLES POINTING TO THE CONTRARY. THE MOST QUOTED EXAMPLES ARE THE ISSUE OF THE DOWNGRADING OF OUR PASSPORT AND OVERSEAS STUDENT FEES. WOULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT HAS BEEN SAID AND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE BY YOUR GOVERNMENT?
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A: +YES, I WANT TO SAY, TAKING THESE TWO POINTS ABOUT STUDENTS AND PASSPORTS, QUESTION WHICH I THINK YOU'RE RAISING, THAT I UNDERSTAND FULLY WHY PEOPLE IN HONG KONG FELT ANXIOUS AND THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS BRITAIN AND IN FACT THIS IS A MISLEADING IMPRESSION, BUT NEVERTHELESS THOUGHT THAT BRITAIN WAS TURNING THEIR BACKS ON HONG KONG. THIS I MUST START BY STRESSING COULD NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE, THE MINISTERS IN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, COULD SEE THE REASONS FOR YOU FEELING THIS. NOW, ON THE STUDENTS QUESTION, A DECISION WAS TAKEN IN 1979, AS YOU RECALL. TO WITHDRAW THE GENERAL SUBSIDIES FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS IN OUR COUNTRY. SINCE THEN WE HAVE BEEN RETHINKING THIS VERY CAREFULLY IN THE LIGHT OF OUR ANXIETY OF THE EFFECTS OF THIS, NOT ONLY IF I MAY SAY, ON THE STUDENTS OF HONG KONG, WHICH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, BUT ON MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH - MALAYSIA'S A GOOD EXAMPLE BUT THERE ARE MANY, MANY OTHER EXAMPLES THAT WE ALL KNOW OF - AND AS A RESULT OF THIS YOU WILL KNOW THAT WE HAVE NOW INTRODUCED A NEW SCHEME WHICH IS DESIGNED TO BUILD ON CO-OPERATION BETWEEN COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES AND OURSELVES IN ORDER TO ASSIST STUDENTS COMING ACROSS TO BRITAIN.
+THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE DEVISED OF A SPECIAL NATURE AS FAR AS HONG KONG'S CONCERNED, BY MEANS OF A JOINT FUNDING SCHEME BETWEEN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT, AND THAT JOINT FUNDING SCHEME 1 HOPE WILL BE OF ASSISTANCE TO STUDENTS. WE WANT TO HAVE BECAUSE IT'S A BRITISH INTEREST - AS MANY HONG KONG STUDENTS AS POSSIBLE IN THIS COUNTRY.
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+ON THE PASSPORT QUESTION, AGAIN OF COURSE IT HAS TO BE SEEN AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT, AND THAT ACT WAS NOT RELATED TO HONG KONG THAT ACT WAS RELATED TO MODERNISING OUR LAWS TO DO WITH NATIONALITY, SO THAT BRITISH CITIZENSHIP AND THE RIGHTS OF ABODE WOULD IN FUTURE COINCIDE AND, OF COURSE, CONSEQUENCES FLOWED FROM THAT. AND WITH REGARD TO A PARTICULAR ANXIETY ABOUT THE PASSPORT QUESTION, MY ATTENTION WAS DRAWN WHEN I FIRST BECAME MINISTER OF STATE EARLIER THIS YEAR IN THE SUMMER, TO PAGE 5 OF THE PASSPORT WHICH I KNOW WAS CAUSING ANXIETY TO SOME PEOPLE, AND I'M VERY PLEASED THAT WE WERE ABLE TO MEET THOSE ANXIETIES AT THE REQUEST OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT. AND I HOPE THAT THAT HAS EASED THE SITUATION AND THE ANXIETIES OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.
/Q+IT IS