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2223
014005
MDLIAN 5082
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FM WELLINGTON
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 217
OF 19042OZ APRIL 90
HICD 340/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
02 MAY 1990
ANY
PARIS, THE HAGUE
INFO PRIORITY HONG KONG, BTC HONG KONGDESK OFFICEONG KONG INFO ROUTINE CANBERRA, OTTAWA, WASHINDERNL INFO ROUTINE BRUSSELS, BONN, COPENHAGEN, ROME, LUXEMBOURG, OSLO INFO ROUTINE STOCKHOLM, SINGAPORE
125,
MY TELNO 161: HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
1. I WAS ABLE TO RAISE THIS AGAIN ON 18 APRIL, THIS TIME WITH THE MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION, ANNETTE KING. I READ TO HER A SUMMARY OF MR MAUDE'S STATEMENT OF 10 APRIL IN HONG KONG (TELNO RETRACT 011) LISTING THE RESPONSES FROM OTHER FRIENDLY GOVERNMENTS AND NOTING THE ABSENCE OF NEW ZEALAND FROM THE LIST. MRS KING SAID AT ONCE THAT NEW ZEALAND'S POSITION, AS A RESULT OF THE RECENT IMMIGRATION REVIEW, WAS VERY MUCH THE SAME AS THAT OF AUSTRALIA, BUT MOQE GENEROUS IN THAT THOSE GRANTED IMMIGRANT STATUS CAN TRAVEL WIDELY FOR THE FIRST FOUR, RATHER THAN THREE, YEARS. SHE ADDED THAT THE RATE AT WHICH IMMIGRANT VISAS WERE GRANTED TO HONG KONG CITIZENS HAD RISEN FROM 143 IN 1985 TO 1016 IN THE YEAR TO MARCH '89 AND SOME 2,000 IN THE TEN MONTHS TO FEBRUARY THIS YEAR. A GREAT NUMBER OF RECENT CASES WERE BUSINESSMEN WHO HAD ESTABLISHED A RESIDENCE HERE BUT CONTINUED TO WORK IN HONG KONG. INDEED THERE WERE SIGNS OF OBJECTION TO SUCH 'ABSENTEE IMMIGRANTS'' IN PARTS OF THE AUCKLAND REGION, BUT SUCH PROBLEMS WERE MINOR AND WOULD NOT AFFECT THE FLEXIBILITY OF NEW ZEALAND'S IMMIGRATION POLICY. MRS KING SUGGESTED THAT THE CHANGES BEING INTRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THE IMMIGRATION POLICY REVIEW WERE LIKELY, IF ANYTHING, TO BE HELPFUL FROM HONG KONG'S POINT OF VIEW BY ABOLISHING THE BUSINESS IMMIGRANT SCHEME AND REPLACING IT WITH ONE OPEN TO A BROADER SPECTRUM OF APPLICANTS ON A POINTS SYSTEM VERY SIMILAR TO THAT OPERATED BY AUSTRALIA.
2. I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK ABOUT THE SUMMARY OF NEW ZEALAND PRACTICE GIVEN IN HONG KONG TELNO 1240 (NOT TO OTHERS). AN IMMIGRATION OFFICER SUPPORTING MRS KING SAID THE SUMMARY IN THAT TELEGRAM WAS INCORRECT AND THE NEW ZEALAND SYSTEM NOT QUITE AS FLEXIBLE AS IT SUGGESTED. MRS KING ASKED HIM TO PREPARE FOR ME AN AUTHORITATIVE WRITTEN STATEMENT OF THE POSITION. I WILL TELEGRAPH
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