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The sooner we can start addressing with Chinese officials these very difficult questions, the better. And if the honourable member and other members of the Preparatory Committee are offering their help in elucidating these matters, then we would very much welcome that assistance and welcome any information that we can get from them.
Originally, you may recall, we didn't think it was going to be possible to deal with the question of visa-free access for SAR passport holders to the United Kingdom until we had sorted out right of abode. I didn't think we could wait any longer on SAR passport visa-free access and I am delighted that the British Government reached a sensible decision on that. But there are all sorts of other countries which are going to be very reluctant to move on visa regimes for SAR passport holders until that question of right of abode is absolutely clear.
So however we achieve it, I think the sooner we can get our experts sitting down round a table with Chinese officials, the better, because nobody doubts that under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law it is going to be for our Immigration Department to try to make this policy work.
Mr Howard Young: Governor, as a demonstration that the Executive Council is not the only body that has problems of skirting around the edges of collective responsibility, could you bear in mind that all that has been said about the amendment to Nationality Law is not all that secretive, there has been an official decision by the Preparatory Committee and on that basis, plus what Mr Lu said which is also public, that there is a great deal of room within the next few months through whatever channel - private or personal capacity - for us to achieve a central solution to the right of abode.
Governor: Can I say something about that. I think it has been suggested during the last few days by one or two very senior Chinese officials that even though the Preparatory Committee have reached this view, discussions can't begin with Hong Kong Government officials because the NPC hasn't made a decision. I really find that difficult to accept as a sensible position but I assure the honourable member that it has been said.
We really have to clear up these matters very, very quickly. There are difficult problems, mainly problems of implementation. We think, and we have tried to sound positive, that the proposals are an advance on the previous position. I still happen to think that the best way forward would have been to allow people to make a simple declaration. But that is not acceptable to Chinese officials, so we must try to find some other way forward. But the way that they are proposing raises all sorts of questions and we had better get on with sorting them out because otherwise there are going to be some very worried people come 1997, and some very confused Immigration Department officials.