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Reporter:
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a great deal of thought we were able to meet the wishes of Hong Kong on this matter. Let's not forget that; Hong Kong has got what
it wanted so far as the endorsement in the BNO passport is concerned.
MS HUTCHEON: If it is true that it is going to be so acceptable, why are you embarking on such a big sell of it ?
MINISTER: Well, you can't have it both ways;
people say that they are concerned. They may be right to be concerned or not right to be concerned but you can't blame us if people say they are concerned for us setting out to reassure them. It may in fact be an entirely unnecessary exercise, but people want to be reassured so they will be reassured, but you mustn't blame us for that.
MS ?
On the resettlement of refugees, does the British Government accept that it has a responsibility to play a leading role in accepting more refugees from Hong Kong so as to encourage other
countries to take more?
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MINISTER: I think obviously we have a responsibility in this matter and it is a responsibility which we have not shirked. Because you must remember that it was Britain in 1979 which initiated the Geneva Conference in that year and as a result of that we took a very large quota of Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong, so nobody is going to tell me that Britain has been laggardly about this matter. Indeed, we now have in Britain about 20,000 Vietnamese refugees, so you must draw your own conclusions from that.
You
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from here, what we are going to do, and how we might do it. afraid I can't be pressed further than I have gone so far.
I am
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MS
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In 1984 there were around 200 police inspectors applied for permanent residence in Britain and only one out of the 200 was successful. No news has been received since then. Is it a sort of prolonged way of refusing them ?
MINISTER: I don't think you are talking about ont
VERBATIM REPORTERS
HONG KONG
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