British Official to Assess New Hong Kong Problems

Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe will visit Hong Kong in early July to assess problems confronting the British colony since the bloody military crackdown in Beijing, the Foreign Office said today.

The announcement came as officials explored ways of allowing larger numbers of Hong Kong citizens holding British passports to settle here, although Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has ruled out any “open door” policy.

Howe recently warned the House of Commons against “a massive new immigration commitment which could more than double the ethnic minority population of the United Kingdom.”

Events in China have prompted widespread fears among the 5.7 million people of Hong Kong, which Britain is due to hand over to Chinese rule in 1997. On Wednesday riot police fired tear gas to break up a crowd attacking Chinese banks and shops, and much of the colony was closed down by a strike.

The Foreign Office said that the exact dates and duration of Howe’s trip have yet to be worked out but that there were no plans for him to visit Beijing or anywhere else while he is in the region.

Hong Kong Gov. David Wilson held talks Thursday with Thatcher and Howe on the crisis gripping the colony.

After his meeting with Thatcher, Wilson told reporters that she had offered him “more than tea and sympathy” but had turned down his appeal to give all the colony’s 3.25-million British passport holders the right of residence in Britain.

Thatcher earlier told Parliament that the government is prepared “to see if we can get increasing flexibility . . . to allow an increasing number of people in here.”

She said that officials will examine ways of achieving that over the next few days and that the government is prepared to seek extra legal powers if necessary.