TNAG-1858-FCO40-2633-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 26

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

5 July 1989

Once the British Government has made such a commitment to Hong Kong, and it is a commitment by action and not by mere words, it will find it absolutely necessary to work with us in establishing a successful future for Hong Kong, so that we will never have to go and live in the United Kingdom.

And then the Chinese Government would also realize that it is not in its interest to ignore the wishes of our people or to suppress or frighten us with inconsiderate policies, for we all have an option to leave.

The insurance argument

The FAC as well as the British Government has rejected what has been called "the insurance argument," and I can understand why. For that argument went like this:

a)

there is a confidence crisis in Hong Kong;

b)

the people of Hong Kong do not want to leave;

c)

therefore give them passports, and they would feel safe and stay.

This argument is unconvincing because there is nothing to show why the crisis of confidence would abate once the people of Hong Kong have got their passports.

I therefore suggest that to run the insurance argument, we must not pretend that the giving of passports alone will solve the problem. An entire package of policies must be pursued together.

International involvement

In the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre and subsequent crack-down, if Hong Kong is to remain a prosperous and stable international city in 1997, then Hong Kong must not be allowed to suffer the same fate as Tibet or Beijing in face of atrocities, that is, Hong Kong must not be exclusively an internal affair of the PRC.

There must be some involvement of the United Nations or some form of "monitoring by the international community. The FAC makes a similar point in

paragraph 2.5.

The objective is clear: if there is any massacre in Hong Kong after 1997 like those in Tibet or Tiananmen Square, China cannot be allowed to say to the protesting international community: "Mind your own business and do not interfere with our internal affairs."