38-AUG-1991 17:34
HONT(UK)
J Morris
g Kong Department
ст.
+852 884 0860
HKD 340/4 Le Mur Cox
Feign and Commonwealth office
HONG KONG CITIZENSHIP SCHEME: "OBSERVER" ARTICLE
F.01
Mr Crystal, News D.
203
Para 4. the inaccuracies do not seem a gross cough for us to dreft a refutation to the obrerver. Lie low and hope it doesn't gather
Steam ?
M 28/8
Thank you for your fax of 27 August enclosing a copy of the article by Steve Vines. You will have now seen my fax to you of even date enclosing a copy of the SCMP article about the scheme.
2. This is the first article I have seen which is so overtly critical of the scheme and the extent to which it is alleged to be failing in its objectives. Certainly, the local press have not cottoned on to this angle before now and their reporting has tended to be factual in nature. However, Lorna Wong, the author of the SCMP article, was on the 'phone to me yesterday after seeing the Observer article to say that she thought that Vines ' was an angle which needed to be followed up.
3.
You will not be surprised that HKG, and HKID in particular, are sensitive to this sort of slur on their efficiency, however much foundation that slur might have. They have been considering sending a letter to those applicants who seem likely to be successful in order to deter them from seeking alternative settlement options. They are in the process of consulting the Solicitor General about the terms of such a letter so that there can be no question of claims by recipients that public faith has been pledged in the event that they are eventually unsuccessful.
4.
As to the content of the article, there are a few irritating inaccuracies. First, it is not our red tape which is blocking the escape route it is HKG's! Second, the HONT is stationed here not just to deal with enquiries but to carry out the process of registration which can be completed within a day or so of receiving the files - far quicker than sending them back to B4 where they would, presumably, have joined the two year long queue. Third, the comparisons between the HK citizenship scheme and the US and Australian visa schemes are hardly valid.
5. The scheme could, of course, be speeded up by the allocation of more HKID staff to the complement and by the Governor's steering group meeting more regularly. The former would be politically difficult at a time of zero growth in the public service; and the latter would not be easy to arrange because of competing demands on the time of the great and the good serving on the committee.
6. I shall keep you in touch with any HKG initiatives for accelerating progress.
сс
Mr Yates, B2 Mr I Scott, PRB
Juum Page
J S PAGE HONT (HK)
28 August 1991
TOTAL P.01
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