Accept Hong Kong Refugees, Bishop Urges Britain
The Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong has appealed for international pressure on Britain to offer refuge to the territory’s people as a safeguard from the uncertain future under Communist rule.
Cardinal John B. Wu, in a letter to about 2,500 cardinals and bishops seen Friday, also urged pressure on China to end the persecution--which he called a “reign of terror”--of participants in the crushed pro-democracy movement.
Britain has agreed to return Hong Kong to China in 1997, and Beijing has promised that the territory can maintain its capitalist economy. But the June 3-4 military assault on Beijing protesters and current crackdown on dissent throughout China has led to a loss of confidence in the future among the 5.7 million people of Hong Kong.
Sees Moral Obligation
Wu said London has a constitutional and moral obligation to provide safeguards for the territory’s people.
“A right to enter the United Kingdom would, in no small measure, help restore people’s confidence in Hong Kong,” he said.
The British government, however, has stated that it will grant the right of abode to only a fraction of Hong Kong’s people.
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