TNAG-1850-FCO40-2625-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 86

1989-06-12 19:39 COI RADIO TECH SERVICES.

01 928 8607 P.12

TRANSCRIPT C: SELECT COMMITTER ON HONG KONG

12 JUNE 1989

-11-

SIR DAVID VILSON;

The reason I used that distinction was because in

documents which are attached to the Joint Declaration,

there is a British Memorandum which talks about the

issuing of a new form of travel document which will not

have the right of abode in the UK.

see it as important that nothing should be done

which should throw any doubt on documents, even if they

are the British Memorandum and not a Chinese One, SD I

said "the right of entry" and the right of entry could

give potentially a right of settlement which could

eventually lead, if people were free of immigration

restrictions, to citizenship,

MR.

IVAN LAWRENCE;

Since you cannot be sure, of course, how many people

from Hong Kong would want to have the right of abode in

Britain and we must be prepared for the worst scenario if

there were a cataclysn, are you in fact telling us that

our moral responsibility is to be prepared to take the

3.25 million if the very worst came to the very worst?

SIR DAVID VILSON;

I think, Mr. Lawrence, if the very worst came to the

very worst, there is a very strong moral obligation.