TNAG-2941-FCO40-4217-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-ethnic-minorities-1993 — Page 37

5 July 1993

Charles Wardle Esq MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary

of State

Home Office

Queen Anne's Gate

London

HONG KONG: ASSURANCE FOR THE ETHNIC MINORITIES

I understand that at the Home Secretary's meeting with the

LegCo House Committee on 9 June, he offered to restate the

Government's assurance to members of the ethnic minorities in

Hong Kong. There will be an opportunity to do this during the

Adjournment Debate on this subject on 9 July, but I thought I should warn you that LegCo members and their sympathisers in the House will be watching carefully for the terms in which

that assurance is restated.

I believe that the House Committee pressed Michael Howard to

confirm that if any ethnic Chinese British Nationals in Hong Kong came under pressure to leave after 1997, they too would be covered by the assurance originally given to the ethnic

minorities. The Home Secretary indicated that these people

would have nowhere else to go and would therefore fall under

the Government's undertaking. As you may be aware, Emily Lau

has made much of this in the press and has warned that there

would be "trouble" if the Home Office were to attempt to

resile from this assurance.

Ms Lau is of course wrong to suggest that Baroness Young's original assurance, on 14 March 1985 was intended to apply to

all Hong Kong BDTCS, but I think we would all agree that in

ward.let.SA

SLM