THE Indian Chamber of Commerce Hongkong yesterday welcomed China's assurance that the livelihood and lifestyle of ethnic minorities would be unaffected by the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.
The director of the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Office, Mr Lu Ping, told a 12-member delegation of the chamber on Monday that their rights would in no way be abridged after Hongkong reverted to Chinese rule.
Representatives of the ethnic minorities have claimed that they face the danger of becoming stateless after 1997 and have repeatedly called on Britain to grant them full British passports.
According to the chamber, Mr Lu said the problem could be solved by the Special Administrative Region issuing either Certificates of Identity or Hongkong SAR passports to them.
Mr Lu also guaranteed the delegation there would be total religious freedom.
The director also recognised the need for a more precise definition of a provision in the Basic Law, which said the right of abode would only be given to those who lived in the territory for more than seven years and took Hongkong as his home.
