FROM HONG KONG BILL UNIT
04.19.1990 11:14
NO. 2 P.11
10.
In conclusion I should refer to suggestions that the Bill either betrays the Government's lack of confidence in the Joint
Declaration, or will reinforce uncertainty about the future among those not selected. I do not believe that either allegation
stands up to scrutiny. It is a fact of life that, following the events in China last June, confidence in Hong Kong declined to
Far a low ebb. The Bill is designed to tackle that problem. from undermining confidence, it will bolster it.
As to the Chinese, they have not said anything to suggest that they will fail to honour their side of the Joint Declaration: and under the terms of the Declaration it will be incumbent upon
the Chinese Government after 1997 to continue to allow Hong Kong
residents with British citizenship to continue to live and work in Hong Kong and to have free movement in and out of the
of the Joint Declaration territory. That is clearly set out in Paragraph 3(4) and in
Section
I LEJET Declaration Article XIV of the Annex/therete. My Rt Hon friend the Foreign Secretary has taken pains to explain to the Chinese our reasons for introducing these proposals, and we believe that they will in time come to accept them as a sincere contribution to Hong Kong's successful transition to Chinese sovereignty.
Mr Speaker, it is also profoundly to Britain's advantage to secure such a transition. That is why this Bill serves the joint interests of the British people and of The Queen's subjects in
Hong Kong. I commend it to the House.
No comments yet.
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