TNAG-1850-FCO40-2625-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 83

1989-06-12 19:38 COI RADIO TECH SERVICES.

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TRANSCRIPT C: SELECT COMMITTER ON HONG KONG

12 JUNE 1989

-8-

CHAIRMAN:

I think, Colleagues, we should just like some more

questions on the general point so if we may keep to the

general issue, could I just put one myself in from the

Chair!

You keep speaking, Sir David, about the

Do you

responsibility on Britain. Do you think that is a

responsibility that Britain could reasonably seek to share

with other members of the international community.

think there is a broader responsibility for ensuring that

Hong Kong does not, as it were, die of fright?

SIR DAVID WILSON ;

Chairman, yea I do!

are

There are two stages of this: one is the present

and the need for reassurance, and there I think Britain

does have à particular position because what we

talking about are people who hold British passports

British Hong Kong passports of various Borts.

responsibility could be more widely shared, then I would

sée no problem about that from the Hong Kong end.

But if that

If one is looking at the second stage of all this,

just a reassurance that if everything went badly wrong

the Armageddon scenario - that in those circumstances the people of Hong Kong as a whole would be looked after, then

} can see that that could well be and quite rightly could

well be a wider international responsibility.