HONG KONG
LEGISLATIVE 香港立法局————————————一九八九年七月五日
COUNCIL
5 July 1989
27
The FAC report argues that Britain will find it very difficult to absorb 3.28 million Hong Kong BDTCs into her society
The scaremongering tactics adopted in rejecting the Hong Kong community's voice to restore the rights of the British subjects are appalling. We have already stressed time and again that the people of Hong Kong do not want to leave this territory. All we want is the provision of an escape route in case of need. I have in my last week's statement to this Council made it clear that this is our home and we want to stay. As far as the FAC is concerned, it seems to have either been totally ignored or fallen on deaf ears.
The report argues that granting full British citizenship to the British subjects in Hong Kong contradicts the Joint Declaration
I do not share this view. When the FAC visited Beijing, Chinese officials were reported to have mentioned to its members that the granting of British citizenship to the people of Hong Kong is entirely a matter for the British Government. In a related vein, we are interested to know why it is now possible for Portuguese passports to be given to Chinese residents in Macau. The FAC would find it difficult to suggest something similar to be done in Hong Kong? By the end of this century, Macau, like Hong Kong, will revert to Chinese sovereignty. And the different treatments afforded by the two sovereign states to their subjects will not be lost on the rest of the world. Why cannot Britain, like Portugal, take the honourable course?
The FAC report recommends that some groups should merit special treatment
Whilst I would not deprive anyone in Hong Kong of the right to take up any offer which eventually might be made by the British Government, I must point out that the talk of making special arrangements for a small number of groups would not be in the interest of this community as a whole. Moreover, half-way proposals short of granting full citizenship would only encourage people to leave rather than stay.
If the confidence crisis continues and people in Hong Kong are looking around the world for a home of last resort, the British Government should recognize the risk that this would certainly threaten the objective of maintaining and preserving the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. This would be a contravention of article 4 of the Sino-British Joint Declaration if Hong Kong cannot achieve prosperity and stability.
To conclude my comments on this very disappointing area of the FAC report, I would argue that the British Government open its eyes and ears, and
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