THE refusal of the British Government to restore full British citizenship to all Hongkong British subjects is a source of anger and frustration for Hongkong, and should properly be a source of shame for Britain itself. It in no way diminishes the legitimacy or the force of that claim to acknowledge in addition that members of the non-Chinese ethnic minorities, resident here and holding BDTC and BN(O) passports, confront a particular and if anything still more precarious future as 1997 approaches. The Basic Law confirms their right of residence in Hongkong; but whether they will also be allowed to acquire Chinese nationality quickly and easily after 1997 cannot be predicted with any certainty. They are faced with the prospect that their children and grandchildren will hold a meaningless pseudo-citizenship, that of British Overseas Citizens; and that their great-grandchildren will be born stateless. Legislative Councillors have an honourable record of recognising and highlighting the nationality problems faced by ethnic minorities. Consistently since the Joint Declaration, and most recently on March 10, the council has urged the British Government to address this issue with a special urgency and a special understanding. The Nationality Sub-Committee of the Legislative Council is now proposing that the council should give fresh impetus to its campaign, by sending a mission to lobby the British Government in London. The sub-committee believes that, given the relatively small numbers involved, the strength of feeling in Hongkong and elsewhere, and the imminence of 1997, that the fight is a necessary and a worthy one. To my surprise and dismay, the sub-committee's proposed London lobbying trip is encountering reluctance and even resistance from certain members of the council, who suggest that such a lobbying mission should not be supported financially, or even, perhaps politically, on the grounds that it privileges the problems of a minority while ignoring those of the majority. Some argue that the Hongkong public would not wish to see public funds used to fight a hard-to-win case for a minority. To argue on those grounds is to misunderstand the obligations of the council towards the public which it serves and represents. The additional uncertainty which the ethnic minorities face must intensify their claim upon our support, and must intensify our obligation to seek a solution on their behalf. We are all diminished, as a community, and as a society, if we fail to marshal our resources behind those who need our help the most. The abandonment by Britain of Hongkong's ethnic minorities ought to be one of the issues - perhaps, sadly, one of the very few issues - capable of uniting the whole of the Legislative Council, and indeed the whole of this community. The rights and wrongs of the matter are absolutely clear-cut. So, too, is the necessary solution. For the sake of our own self-respect, we cannot allow meanness or a spurious populism to become the alibis for our inaction. CHRISTINE LOH Legislative Councillor
