Britain Moves to Admit 50,000 Hong Kong Refugee Families
The House of Commons early today approved legislation to allow 50,000 heads of households from Hong Kong and their families to enter Britain when the colony is handed back to China in 1997.
Some members of the Conservative Party fought their government’s proposal, saying it would flood the country with Hong Kong refugees.
In Beijing, the Chinese government reiterated its objection to the plan.
“The Chinese government has repeatedly expressed its just and solemn position and demands with regard to this question,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Li Jinhua said at a weekly briefing.
“Now the British side still is pursuing its plans to change the citizenship of some Chinese citizens in Hong Kong. The British side will be held responsible for all the consequences arising therefrom,” she said without elaborating.
In London, Conservative lawmaker Tony Marlow said the household heads and their families could total 250,000 people of different culture and ethnic background. He said the government’s duty is to put Britain first.
Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd has said he wants key people to remain in Hong Kong after Chinese rule. He says the best way to achieve that is to guarantee them a British passport so they know they can always leave.
The House passed the bill by a voice vote, sending it for consideration to the House of Lords, the non-elected upper chamber of Parliament.
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