Excerpts from the South China Morning Post this week in 1971
The Legislative Council eased the fears of more than 2 million Chinese not born in Hong Kong and not naturalised, who were worried they could be deported or refused re-entry at any time.
It created a new category under the Immigration Bill, according the people the status of 'Chinese residents', with similar rights to those born here. The legislation provided that they would be liable for deportation only under certain circumstances - on recommendation of the courts, on a report of a newly set-up Deportation Tribunal and in security cases. Only one condition was necessary: that they must have lived at any time in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years.
President Richard Nixon bluntly told Hong Kong and other Asian textile exporters that unless agreement was reached on voluntary restraints within 24 hours, the United States would slap on new import quotas. The ultimatum was aimed at Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The president was seeking to break a three-year deadlock over the Asian imports, which the US domestic textile makers claimed were hurting the industry.
He threatened unilateral action on the part of the US if there was no agreement or steps leading towards negotiating an agreement.
