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The British Government's scheme will give these key people the assurance which they want without any need for them to live in Britain before they qualify for our citizenship. We are also asking our allies in Europe and elsewhere in the world to consider similar nationality schemes which could help sustain confidence in Hong
Kong.
It is of course theoretically possible that every one of the 50,000 families who benefit from our scheme will decide to come and live in Britain. We think this extremely unlikely because of these families' cultural, personal and professional ties with Hong Kong. But if they did all come here, the "penalty" for this country would be to take in up to 225,000 of the most enterprising and talented people from one of the most successful economies seen this century.
Nor would they all be likely to arrive at once. A significant proportion of passports will be held back until the last years of British rule. This will give the authorities in Hong Kong some flexibility, for example in respect of people newly promoted to important posts, without exceeding the limit of 50,000 families which we shall ask Pa: liament to endorse.
The Chinese Government's critical reaction to our proposals is misplaced. Britain has an explicit duty under the Joint Declaration to do everything possible to sustain prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, and our asssurances scheme is designed to help meet that
obligation.
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