TNAG-2188-FCO40-3125-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 159

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On nationality, we shall hold to the scheme of assurances which

Of course we I announced in the House of Commons on 20 December.

On

have a task of persuasion ahead of us. We must persuade the People's Republic that this plan represents no threat to them. the contrary, by encouraging key people in business and in administration to stay in Hong Kong rather than emigrate to Canada or Australia it fulfils our undertaking under the Joint Declaration to work to preserve the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong while it remains under our rule.

We also have to persuade Parliament that the scheme strikes a fair balance between our duty to Hong Kong and our duty to maintain effective controls on immigration. I am sure that we can do this. As I said in the House, the "penalty" which this country would bear if every beneficiary of the scheme were ever to take advantage of his right of abode in this country would be to find space for 50,000 people and their families who were amongst the most successful and skilled in their respective professions in perhaps the most dynamic

The notion that the and enterprising economy seen this century.

arrival of these people, if it were ever to happen, would be a drain on cur resources or add to the burdens on our inner cities is wide

of the mark.

Our second task is to devise constitutional arrangements for territory which will meet the aspirations of Hong Kong's people and also provide a sure basis for development after 1997. Top of this agenda is persuading China to enact a Basic Law which will safeguard

We also have to decide on the scope of Hong Kong's way of life. constitutional reform before 1997, notably the question of how many seats in the Hong Kong Legislature should for the first time be filled by direct popular election in 1991.