TNAG-1736-FCO40-2449-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 50

CONFIDENTIAL

HKB 011/8

105

135354

MDHIAN 1292

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 4172

OF 11110OZ NOVEMBER 88

RECEIVE

14 NOV 1988

་ཀ་

N

COPY DIST ?

INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, UKMIS GENEVA

LEGCO DEBATE ON MY POLICY ADDRESS:

SUMMARY OF POINTS OF INTEREST TO HMG

►

1 IN TWO LONG SESSIONS ON 9 AND 10 NOVEMBER, 45 MEMBERS SPOKE IN THE DEBATE ON THE MOTION OF THANKS ON MY POLICY ADDRESS TO LEGCO ON 12 OCTOBER. OFFICIAL MEMBERS WILL REPLY AT THE COUNCIL'S NEXT SITTING ON

16 NOVEMBER.

2. ALL BUT ONE OF THE SPEECHES WERE GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THE

PILICY DIRECTIVES SPELLED OUT IN MY ADDRESS. MARTIN LEE CRITICISED THE ADDRESS AS BEING DEVOID OF VISION AND FAILING TO PROVIDE PERSPECTIVE.

3.

TWO ISSUES RAISED BY MEMBERS WILL BE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO YOU:

(A) VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. 13 MEMBERS CALLED ON HMG TO DO MORE FOR HONG KONG BY ACCEPTING MORE THAN 20 A MONTH FOR RESETTLEMENT. HMG'S RECORD WAS COMPARED UNFAVOURABLY TO THOSE OF THE OTHER RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR AUSTRALIA AND CANADA. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT OTHERS COULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO HELP HONG KONG WHILE

HMG WAS DOING SO LITTLE. THERE WERE CALLS FOR HMG TO ''SOLVE'' THE PROBLEM BEFORE 1997 BY INCREASING ITS OFFTAKE TO BETWEEN 600 AND 1000

PER ANNUM.

(B) WIVES AND WIDOWS OF EX-SERVICEMEN. THREE MEMBERS (INCLUDING THE

SENIOR MEMBER) CALLED ON HMG TO GRANT BRITISH PASSPORTS TO THE 30-0DD WIVES AND WIDOWS OF EX-SERVICEMEN. DESCRIBING THE DECISION TO

REQUIRE THESE LADIES TO COMPLY WITH A MINIMUM LENGTH OF STAY IN U K AS ''PATHETIC AND DISGRACEFUL'', HMG WAS URGED TO RECONSIDER THE MATTER.

WILSON

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CONFIDENTIAL