1
-MED 34018
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Mr
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Payı,
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FROM:
PS/Lord Glenarthur
DATE:
13 March 1989
CC:
Mr McCleary, FED PRU
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Time
W1310
LORD FANSHAWE
1.
Lord Fanshawe telephoned this morning with advance notice of the line he will be taking tomorrow evening in his intervention on the Lord Wyatt Unstarred Question.
2.
Lord Fanshawe said that he would echo the request that HMG should look again at the whole passports issue. The time was right for such a step, which would give a major boost to morale in Hong Kong. Whatever the real position, there was a perception in Hong Kong that the Hong Kong Government and HMG were dancing to Peking's tune. Current events, notably in Tibet, were causing increased anxiety. The passports issue had been brought back into topicality by the Portuguese decision to provide EC passports for 100,000 Macanese (sic).
3. From this basis, Lord Fanshawe would identify two main areas for action:
(a) British passports should be made available to those in a
position to contribute to the British economy (rather than, as at present, to the Canadian, Australian and US economies). Very few of these people would actually wish to come and stay in the UK, but the gesture would give a big boost to morale. The main need was for greater flexibility. Lord Fanshawe would not accept an answer based on the likely Chinese reaction: the Chinese had expressed no concern about the Portuguese move.
(b) The Home Secretary ("an unduly cautious man") should
exercise greater flexibility over the section 4 (5) provisions. Lord Fanshawe's figures were that, of 700 applications, all but 54 had been refused.
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