Britain's obligation in HK

The old House of Commons cry of reproach "For shame!" is warranted by the uproar in Britain over granting right of abode to British subjects in Hong Kong. The issue was reignited by Chris Patten, the colony's governor, when he said recently that 3.3 million holders of British passports should have the right, if they wished, to live in Britain after Hong Kong reverts to China in 1997.

That is not the view in Britain. The ruling Conservatives thought they had resolved the issue a few years ago by a dexterous stratagem. Hong Kong Chinese holding British passports were told they were "BDTCs," or British Dependent Territory Citizens, meaning they cannot live in Britain. When Hong Kong is returned to China, only 50,000 Hong Kong heads of household will be eligible for full British passports. Left abandoned are Hong Kong's minority groups, chiefly East Indian, who are entitled to neither Chinese nor British nationality.

Britain's Labor opposition, for its part, struggled for loftier arguments in opposing Patten. Hong Kong Chinese are at the end of a long queue, Laborites contend, and so should not be given preference over applicants from other former non-white colonies. This misses the point. Elsewhere, colonial status was replaced by independence and self-government. But in Hong Kong, neither will result as a colony enjoying free speech and rule of law comes under a communist regime whose future policies and leadership are uncertain.

In acquiring Hong Kong as a colony, Britain assumed a responsibility for its inhabitants, just as Portugal did in establishing a comparable nearby enclave at Macao in 1557. Macao will also be handed over to China, in 1999, but Portugal has wisely granted rights of immigration to all its nationals, about 100,000 out of 467,000 residents.

The British retreat is plainly owed to fears of being swamped by Hong Kong Chinese after 1997. In reality, Britain ranks fourth or fifth as country of choice for resettlement, with Canada leading the list.

Nobody sensibly expects a mass exodus to Britain from Hong Kong, which for 50 years after 1997 is to remain under its existing legal and economic system. Indeed, the more generous Britain's passport laws, the better the chances that China will honor its promises to treat Hong Kong decently, and the less likely a panicky flight.

Restoring real citizenship rights to British subjects in this last important colony is virtually the only meaningful gift Her Majesty's government can bestow unilaterally on Hong Kong, without Beijing's approval. Otherwise, more than a flag will be lowered come 1997.

-- The New York Times