AECS
Ref. R 6
Ms Edwina Currie M.P. House of Commons,
London SW1 OAA
ENGLAND.
Madam,
20th April 1990
We are pleased to learn from the Hong Kong press that you will be visiting Hong Kong. There are many problems relating to the future of this Territory and we share the views of most local inhabitants that the British Government will be in a better position to discharge its responsibilities if Members of Parliament are fully briefed on the true situation. Although we understand that the principal purpose of your visit relates to the request by various members of our community for rights of abode in the United Kingdom, the are many other concerns over the future of this Territory which affect other groups of residents.
Members of our Association, who for the most part are U.K. citizens and many of whom are members of H.M. Overseas Civil Service, have different concerns over the future from those which give rise to demands for right of abode. These concerns are, however, no less real and we would welcome the opportunity of discussing them with you while you are in Hong Kong.
Briefly our main concerns are:-
1. The security of pensions in the light of possible political changes, both within the future administration of Hong Kong and, more importantly, within the government of the People's Republic of China.
2. The value of pensions both before and after 1997, and, in particular, the apparent inability of the U.K. Supplementary Pension Overseas Service to take adequate account of reduced payments resulting from changes in exchange rates.
3. The possibility of erosion of the real value of pensions consequent to the introduction of exchange controls of punitive taxation post-1997.
4. A general compensation scheme for those officers who may not wish to be involuntarily transferred to a foreign administration.
ASSOCIATION OF EXPATRIATE CIVIL SERVANTS OF HONG KONG
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