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CONFIDENTIAL
oin. I agree with the fert's view
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Sir Leslie Monson
Mr Logan
Mr Graham
A.R.
AN IDENTITY FOR THE INHABITANTS OF HONG KONG
1. Lord Butler discussed this question with the Governor of
Hong Kong (Mr Graham's minute of 10 May is attached).
2.
21.
About half of Hong Kong's population is under the age of
Most of the parents of this younger generation fled to
They went for
Hong Kong for refuge from the Communists.
security and a, job and were grateful for what Hong Kong could
offer them.
3.
On the
S
Inevitably the younger generation are confused.
one hand they accept generally that no kind of self-government,
much less independence, is in prospect. On the other, they want
to be identified with a meaningful society.
4. The great majority of the younger generation fall into one
of two categories specified in the Colony's recently enacted
Immigration Ordinance:
(a) "Hong Kong belonger".
These are defined in the Ordinance as
(i) Persons who are British subjects by birth or
naturalisation in Hong Kong, or registration
in Hong Kong under section 7(2) of the British
Nationality Act, 1948; and
(ii) Persons who are or have been married to, or who
are the children of, persons mentioned in
paragraph 4(a)(i) above.
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/(6)
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5.
(b) "Chinese residents".
These are defined in the Ordinance as persons other
than "Hong Kong belongers" who are wholly or partly
of Chinese race and have at any time been ordinarily
resident in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not
less than 7 years.
A "Chinese resident" has the right to land in Hong
Kong at any time and without any conditions attached
to his stay in the Colony, unless there is a
deportation order in force against him at the time.
Normally the inhabitants of a colony are "citizens of the
United Kingdom and Colonies" without qualification. A colony
is not given its own citizenship until independence. Because
for example we could not use the term "Citizen of Hong Kong" /we were
driven to devise the unglamorous term "belonger" to meet the
position of persons in a dependent territory who wanted a closer
association with that territory than the status of British
subject implied.
6.
There is the further point that the term suggested by
Lord Butler - "Chinese Citizens of Hong Kong" is ambiguous.
It could be read to mean "citizens of China resident in Hong
Kong". The Chinese Government might choose to read it in this
way and use this reading as a handle to create a great deal
of trouble.
2.
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17.
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7.
We cannot create a special nationality for Hong Kong and
we in the department think that it would be best to leave well
alone.
FED concur.
24 May 1972
E O Laird
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department
cc FED
am
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257
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ratis fraging them
Anything that could be devin's by juggling with legal semanties
Petyle for signature.
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