XN000022-1990-04-11 — Page 18

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EMILY LAU:

CAN THEY USE THIS TIME MAYBE NOT ALL

MR MAUDE:

BUT IF LABOUR SHOULD COME INTO POWER, SAY IN 1992, CLAUSE AND JUST SCRAP THE BILL? I MEAN, BY THAT

THE 50,000 PASSPORTS WOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED.

WELL IT SEEMS TO ME A MOST IMPROBABLE EVENTUALITY, ANYWAY, BUT IN THAT HIGHLY UNLIKELY CIRCUMSTANCE, NO, IT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE CLAUSE TO ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN. BUT IT MUST BE FOR THE ULTIMATE DISCRETION OF THE HOME SECRETARY TO DECIDE WHO HAS A PASSPORT.

JOHN ELLIOTT ( FINANCIAL TIMES): I DON'T THINK THE PASSPORT SITUATION IS CLEAR, COULD YOU TELL US PRECISELY WHAT PLEDGES, AND YOU USE THE WORD PLEDGES. WHAT PLEDGES YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM WHAT COUNTRIES FOR WHAT NUMBERS? PRECISE, DEFINITE, PLEDGES?

MR MAUDE: WELL, I MEAN, NOT EVERY COUNTRY HAS GIVEN A PLEDGE IN TERMS OF PRECISE NUMBERS, NOR WOULD IT BE REASONABLE TO EXPECT THEM TO. SINGAPORE HAS, THERE IS A PROPOSAL IN THE UNITED STATES WHICH ALSO REFLECTS A DEFINITE NUMBER, ALTHOUGH THAT'S ONLY A PROPOSAL AT THIS STAGE, BUT THE APPROACH BY OTHER COUNTRIES IS TO SAY THERE ARE PEOPLE WORKING IN HONG KONG FOR FRENCH, BELGIAN, GERMAN COMPANIES, AND IT IS IN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST THAT THEY SHOULD BE GIVEN THE SECURITY TO STAY THERE. NOW, THEY DON'T SAY THAT THERE IS A LIMIT ON THAT, THEY LIMIT IT TO THE PEOPLE WORKING FOR THOSE FIRMS, AND SO IT ISN'T POSSIBLE TO PUT DEFINITE NUMBERS ON IT. BUT THE SORT OF NUMBERS ONE IS TALKING ABOUT ARE OF THE SORT OF DIMENSIONS I TALKED ABOUT YESTERDAY.

JOHN ELLIOTT: HAVE YOU A PLEDGE FROM THE FRENCH YOU SAID YESTERDAY YOU HAD.

FOR 150,0002

MR MAUDE: NO, I DIDN'T

י

JOHN ELLIOTT: SORRY, ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED?

MR MAUDE: NO, I DIDN'T SAY THAT. I SAID THAT THERE WAS A PROPOSAL BY THE FRENCH WHICH COULD MEAN UP TO FIFTEEN PASSPORTS, WHICH IS NOT TO SAY BY ANY MEANS, UNLESS YOU ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A VERY BIZARRE WAY, THAT THERE IS AN PLEDGE TO GIVE FIFTEEN HUNDRED PASSPORTS.

HUNDRED USE THE ABSOLUTE

EMMA BOYDE (REUTERS): WHAT CHANCE IS THERE THAT ANY OF THESE PLEDGES OR WHATEVER YOU LIKE TO CALL THEM, MIGHT NOT BE PASSED BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF THOSE COUNTRIES?

MR

MAUDE: ONE OBVIOUSLY CAN'T COMMIT OTHER GOVERNMENTS TO FUT THOSE PLEDGES INTO EFFECT, BUT IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT IS INTENDING TO PUT THAT SCHEME INTO EFFECT, IT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING, AS I SAID YESTERDAY, IN MY STATEMENT, THAT GERMANY, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG ARE ABOUT TO FINALISE SUCH SCHEMES. NOW, IT WILL BE FOR THEM TO ANNOUNCE THE DETAILS OF THOSE SCHEMES IN THEIR OWN WAY AT THEIR OWN TIME. BUT THEY UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE MEASURES FOR HONG KONG AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SHOWING THAT OTHER COUNTRIES ARE AS CONCERNED TO DO WHAT THEY CAN IN A MORE LIMITED THAN US FOR THE LONG TERM STABILITY OF HONG KONG.

WAY

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