14 June 1989]
[Mr Wells Contd
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
RT HON SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, QC, MP, MR R MCLAREN and MR A PAUL
Kingdom it is very difficult to say. I think all one can say is that if the worst were to happen plainly the special responsibility of the United Kingdom for the people of Hong Kong would be inescapable and part of that responsibility would be a responsi- bility to mobilise the widest possible international help. I do not think one is going to be able to achieve more than that along the lines you are suggesting at this stage.
Mr Taylor
992. Secretary of State, can I examine more carefully your answer to Peter Shore? The problem with the insurance policy that people in Hong Kong have been putting forward and also people in this country and the press is that in a sense the policy can be cashed in at the decision of those living in Hong Kong. They would, if they had passports. be able to come to this country when they chose. What you were saying is a different sort of insurance policy, that in the event that there were a catas- trophe in Hong Kong and there were, therefore. political refugees from Hong Kong after 1997, there would be a clear obligation on the British Govern- ment, with or without the help of other countries. to take those people in. In other words, Britain would be, in terms of a political catastrophe, the home of last resort.
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I was addressing myself in talking about insurance policy to the proposition of rights to be granted now which could be, as you say, encashed now, but that is in the context of the insurance policy argument that is advanced because the people ought to have an insurance on the basis that they may never need to use it. The alternative situation that I was discussing was the situation that if, in fact, the worst happened and the population of Hong Kong were driven by events into de facto refugee status, then plainly Britain would have a special responsibility to respond to that and would seek to spread the response to that responsibility as widely as poss- ible. That is different from the insurance policy.
993. Secretary of State. I understand that is different. I just want to be absolutely clear that the conclusions are properly drawn. The insurance policy in a sense to which you were referring was that if everything did go terribly wrong after 1997 there would be a possibility that citizens of the colony of Hong Kong as a last resort would be taken as political refugees into this and perhaps other countries?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) Yes, but I was distinguishing that concept from the context in which the insurance policy is normally talked about. These >people, I think I am right in saying, say: "We should now be granted the right of access to the United *Kingdom in our present state, at our option and we are entitled to that insurance policy." That is *what I was talking about in answer to Bowen Wells, but in the alternative last resort situation, of events overwhelming the people of Hong Kong, then in those circumstances it is, I think, inescapable that the United Kingdom with its special responsibility
365
¡Continued
for the territory would be the country to which they would look for treatment as refugees, and we have to try and discharge that responsibility with the help of others.
994. What you have just said in a sense should give comfort to those people who stay in Hong Kong knowing that—what nobody wants and what everybody is trying to avoid-if a military catas- trophe did happen there could be the insurance that Britain and perhaps others would be the home of last resort for political refugees beyond 1997?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I think that is right. I think in the face of that kind of overwhelming cataclysmic series of events in which people were seeking to claim and exercise rights as refugees, Britain clearly would have to respond to that and would seek to mobilise a response internationally.
Chairman
995. I think what you have just said gives us the impression that you can fairly say you are giving the sort of catastrophe last resort insurance cover that many people around the world would feel was ultimately, in fact, unavoidable, inevitable and proper, both from Britain and all the other civilised nations of the earth. Is that a right interpretation?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) What I think I am trying to say is, quite apart from Hong Kong, Britain, like every other country, does have international obli- gations towards refugees. In view of our particular connection with and responsibility for Hong Kong those are obligations we should have to take very seriously indeed in respect of anyone from Hong Kong claiming refugee status, and if the scale of that claim was so large then we should need in that context, as in any other, to secure the widest possible international help in responding.
Mr Rowlands
996. Can I pursue this point but take it a bit further? With your breadth of knowledge I know you will have come across the concept of an incho- ate right, that is, a right that lies dormant but can be triggered off under specific criteria or well-defined criteria. Would not that idea or concept be one that would apply in this situation, by which you grant an inchoate right to those for whom we have responsibility, the passport holders, but it can only be triggered off if a state of turmoil or martial law is declared in Hong Kong? In other words, if you can grant a right it is a sort of insurance but not one they can automatically claim at any time during the process?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I see the point you are mak- ing, but I do not think one wants to rély or can or should go beyond an understanding of what is the present state of affairs, because it is easy enough to talk about the theoretical situation that would arise in the event of cataclysm and to discuss the responses and the responsibilities that might then be exercised. But one has only to see just how extremely difficult it is to turn that into practice in cases we already have before us to underline the un-wisdom of trying to give greater precision to
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.