TNAG-2189-FCO40-3126-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 122

Britain in order to qualify for this.

Our

scheme will cover a

maximum of 50,000 households which when dependants are included

means a total of up to 225,000 people. The scheme will be selective. People will qualify under a fair points system similar to the systems operated by Canada and Australia in their immigration policies. Priority will be given to such factors as an employee's importance to his employer's business, professional qualifications, personal links with Britain and the ability to speak English.

Arrangements are being made for all applications under the scheme to be processed by 30 June 1997 when the scheme will end. The Government's scheme will be strictly limited in numbers, scope and

duration. The legislation will be ring fenced to ensure that it cannot be used as a vehicle to bring about wider changes in the

government's immigration policy.

As the statement makes clear, Hong Kong is a British responsibility

and one which we shall not shirk. However Hong Kong is also an

Incorporated international centre, with huge international investment.

into

New

Paría S.

See New Para 3.

We have

already made it clear to other governments, both bilaterally and in international fora, that Hong Kong's major trading partners have a strong interest in the territory's continuing stability and prosperity. We shall continue our efforts to mobilise the international community to follow our lead in supporting Hong Kong in whatever ways they can, including the introduction of assurances

schemes similar to our own.

These measures are designed not to encourage immigration into this country but to persuade people to stay in Hong Kong, where they can continue to make their contribution to the success of the territory, thereby benefitting the community as a whole in Hong Kong. We must bolster confidence now in order to avert a collapse of confidence in the future, which could lead to very large numbers of people from See

Hong Kong seeking admission to Britain. Indeed, the objective of New paras our whole policy over Hong Kong is to give people there confidence 8+9

in the future, on the basis of the Sino British Joint Declaration, and to ensure that Hong Kong remains an attractive place in which to live and work, up to 1997 and beyond. The measures we have announced are an essential and indispensable element of that policy.