TNAG-2186-FCO40-3123-Ethnic-minorities-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 6

The Lord Sharp of Grimsdyke Kt CBE

Chairman and Chief Executive

Cable and Wireless plc

New Mercury House

26 Red Lion Square

London

WC1R 4UQ

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

14 June 1990

Dear Enc

Thank you for your letter of 6 June enclosing one from Mr E P Ho (a retired senior Hong Kong Government civil servant) about the position of the Eurasian or Anglo-Chinese community in Hong Kong.

Ministers are well aware of the concerns of this group. When devising the scheme embodied in the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill, they took very careful note of all the representations from this and similar groups, including the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. They concluded that they could not treat these groups as a special category within the scheme, although they will of course be eligible to apply for British citizenship under it. Each case will be assessed fairly and on its merits.

As you may know, Ministers have also given a specific assurance in Parliament, in the context of the non-Chinese ethnic minorities, that if, against all expectations, these people came under pressure to leave Hong Kong in the future, we would expect the Government of the day to consider their case for admission here with very considerable and particular sympathy. That assurance applies with equal force to the Eurasian or Anglo-Chinese community in Hong Kong.

Yous ever,

Room

RJT McLaren

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