Britain Asks Allies’ Aid on Hong Kong Passports

David Wilson, the British governor of Hong Kong, suggested Monday that the United States and other countries grant passports to residents of Hong Kong to ease fears of what may happen when China takes over the colony in 1997.

The governor’s remarks, made during a visit in which he met with top U.S. officials, served notice that Britain hopes to enlist the help of Western allies to ensure Hong Kong’s stability and prevent a massive “brain drain” of skilled professionals.

“What Hong Kong really needs is assurances that will help people to stay,” Wilson said in an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington. “. . . What people really want is an insurance policy.” Granting passports to Hong Kong residents might provide such an insurance policy, Wilson indicated.

Britain has said it could not absorb a huge exodus from the colony although it is willing to accept a limited number of residents.

One proposal now before Congress would lift the five-year residency requirement for U.S. citizenship for Hong Kong residents. This move would enable them to become American citizens while still living and working in Hong Kong.

Under an agreement signed five years ago, Britain will return Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The Chinese government promised it would preserve for another 50 years Hong Kong’s capitalist system and some of the political freedoms that the colony’s 5.5 million residents now enjoy.

However, the agreement does not spell out exactly how much political autonomy the Hong Kong government will have after China takes over. Over five years, Chinese officials have made clear their opposition to having Hong Kong conduct direct elections to choose a chief executive and legislature largely independent of Chinese control.

The political upheavals in China in May and June heightened fears that China will not keep the promises it made in the 1984 agreement or that it will interpret the pact in ways that undercut the current political and economic system.

“The tragic events of last June shook confidence badly, and there’s no point in pretending otherwise,” Wilson said, referring to the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations by Chinese troops.

He noted that Hong Kong residents have been lining up outside the consulates of Western governments such as the United States, Canada and Australia, seeking a chance to emigrate. The Hong Kong government expects about 42,000 people to leave the colony this year--a rate more than double that of the early 1980s.

In recent months, Hong Kong authorities have been particularly upset by foreign companies that tried to recruit professionals and technicians away from the colony.

“A significant number (of the people leaving Hong Kong) are young professionals,” Wilson said. “. . . So, we have a problem.”