THE influential House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee will this week publish its long-awaited report, expected to set the agenda for Britain's relations with Beijing in the final years before 1997.
A new deal on nationality rights for Hong Kong's ethnic minorities, strong criticism of China's human rights violations, and full backing for Governor Chris Patten's political reforms are among its findings.
The report - which Mr Patten has already predicted will mark an ''important milestone'' on the road to 1997 - is the outcome of a nine-month high-profile probe into relations with China and their effect on Hong Kong.
It is being kept under tight wraps ahead of publication on Wednesday, with members warned any premature disclosure would amount to contempt of Parliament.
But a close committee source has revealed it will urge the British Government to act to protect the position of the 7,000 members of non-Chinese ethnic minorities living in the territory, who run the risk of becoming stateless after 1997, by giving them either British passports or other nationality rights.
The report will also issue a tough warning about the concerns Hong Kong people and the British Government feel over Beijing's poor human rights record. However a source stressed this was not meant to be seen as ''anti-Chinese''.
The main focus will be to support Mr Patten's handling of the constitutional reform issue, and reject criticisms by former foreign affairs adviser Sir Percy Cradock in his evidence to the committee.