TNAG-1985-FCO40-2818-Presentation-of-UK-policy-on-Hong-Kong-to-the-media-1989 — Page 30

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BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES

(119)

POLICY STATEMENT 40/89

HONG KONG

FRIDAY, 23 JUNE 1989

Attached are extracts from a closing speech in a debate on Hong Kong in Parliament, on 21 June 1989, by Lord Glenarthur, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth office.

Main Points

The next meeting of the Joint Liaison Group (which is negotiating the Basic Law) has been postponed sine die. The Government condems the massacre and repression in China.

If HK

The Basic Law will provide a detailed Constitution which will protect Hong Kong's special status. can reach a concensus on faster progress towards representative democracy we should certainly wish to respond. It will be essential that the Basic Law fully reflects the views of the people and that its provisions command their confidence.

We are looking at ways of giving more specific legal protection to human rights. One possibility is the enactment of a Bill of Rights giving effect to the international covenants which already apply in Hong

Kong.

Granting automatic right-of-abode in the UK cannot be a realistic option. Considerable effort is being devoted to finding solutions. If people had to flee Hong Kong in great numbers, any British Government would do everything to mobilise the international community to help. The Foreign Secretary will visit HK 1-5 July.

Hong Kong is in imminent danger of being overwhelmed by the influx of Vietnamese boat people. We have committed over pounds 12m for a new refugee centre, to UNHCR and for emergency accommodation. The Geneva Conference marked international acceptance of the reality that those who do not qualify as refugees must find their future in Vietnam.

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