TNAG-1850-FCO40-2625-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 78

1989-06-12 19:35 COI RADIO TECH SERVICES.

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TRANSCRIPT C: SELECT COMMITTEE ON HONG KONG

12 JUNE 1989

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MR. TEMPLB-MORRIS:

There is no area in this whole difficult area that

inspires stronger feelings in Hong Kong and incidentally

is increasingly inspiring differing views and strong

feelings here too, than the nationality and immigration

issue.

I want to take you through it, if I may. first of

all generally, just to give you a guide to the line of

questions that I will be asking, first of all. in the light

of moral obligation, in the light of what has been

happening in China; then specifically looking at the

categories and what the British Government might be doing

there and your own role in Section 45 of the 1981 Act;

and finally AMELCO, what they proposed and what they are

likely to propose.

Going therefore to the general, firet of all, Sir

David, you have in the past, before these regrettable and

tragic events in China, expressed considerable sympathy as

the spokesman for Hong Kong people, with their claim for a

right of abode and I want now to deal with the thing at

its maximum, in the sense that we have been talking about

3.25 million people either passport-holders or potential

passport-holders.

In the week-end press, the moral obligation argument

was stretched in one or two newspapers not just to 3.25

million but to the 6 million or total population of Hong

Kong as it stande now.