Nations Urged to Accept Residents of Hong Kong

Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.) called Tuesday for nations to open their doors to Hong Kong residents to lift confidence in the British colony before 1997.

Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule in 1997. China’s bloody crushing of pro-democracy activists June 3-4 in Beijing shattered residents’ confidence and sparked a rush for foreign visas.

“Britain has a primary responsibility to Hong Kong, but that responsibility should be shared by other nations,” Solarz told reporters during the Hong Kong leg of a tour of Southeast Asia.

‘Hundreds of Thousands’

“Singapore has said it would accept 25,000 Hong Kong residents. Presumably, larger countries would do no less. If we add up all the countries taking Hong Kong residents, it could total hundreds of thousands. I tend to doubt it would go into the millions,” Solarz said.

“The existence of an insurance policy might give China the incentive to be sensitive to Hong Kong’s concerns,” he said. “If China is not sensitive, a lot of the people who make Hong Kong go would no longer be here.”

Hong Kong’s push to allow millions of the colony’s residents to live in Britain has been fruitless.