FROM HONG KONG BILL UNIT
04.12.1998 11:42
NO. 2 P. 1
BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) BILL
DRAFT SECOND READING SPEECH
This Bill makes provision for up to 50,000 selected key personnel
in Hong Kong to be registered as British citizens before July 1997, and for the registration of their spouses and children
under 18.
The House will be aware of the background. Since the war Britain
But never has granted independence to many former colonies.
before has it been faced with returning a territory to the
sovereignty of a communist power.
This is,
moreover, a territory whose economic development has
been a remarkable success story. A community of 6 million people
I do not has become the world's eleventh largest trading entity.
need to spell out to the House the extent of Britain's stake
in the continuing
This is a case, if ever there
in terms of trade, investment and jobs
success of Hong Kong's economy.
was one, where duty and the national interest march hand in hand.
Of course, what happens after 1997 will be largely in the hands
But it of the Chinese Government.
Britain is with
that
responsibility for Hong Kong will rest over the next seven years.
A vital step to securing Hong Kong's future was taken in 1984
Under this with the signing of the joint declaration with China. unique document the Chinese Government undertook to maintain Hong
Kong as a capitalist enclave within a communist state
systems within one country.
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two
That agreement was a remarkable
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