CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Smedley
Nationality and Treaty Dept.
HKK340|1
RECEIVED
- 5 APR 079
DESK OPELS
INDEX
PA
NO. 51
7
No
дъч
NATIONALITY LAW: BRITISH OVERSEAS CITIZENSHIP
1.
Ι
We spoke on the telephone about your minute of 29 Harch. said I saw little point in producing substantive comments on the present Home Office proposals in the month remaining before the General Election. After years of desultory discussion we can surely wait to see which party forms the new government: if the Conservatives win the election they are not likely to adopt the Green Paper proposals as they stand.
2. It might also be worth recording some of the other points which I made. The Hong Kong Government, and the unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils have, as you recognise, expressed strong opposition to the proposal to create two categories of British citizen. If a decision is taken to go ahead with this proposal, we will need to convice Hong Kong that full account has been taken of their views. The tendentious and dismissive account of representations from Hong Kong in para- graph 8(b) of the memorandum enclosed with Mr Lee's letter of 12 February suggests strongly that the Home Office have not even understood Hong Kong's objections, let alone taken them properly into account. They have also introduced a spurious "fundamental Foreign Office objection" to making "then" (presumably the 2.6 million CUKC resident in Hong Kong ) "British citizens” which is in any case not something which anyone has proposed.
3. If it seems likely that a new government will wish to go ahead with the creation of a two-class citizenship, we will certainly need to consult the ilong Kong Government on the details. This will be both politically desirable and practically necessary: we in this department lack the specialised knowledge of immigration matters to be able to spot technical snags from the Hong Kong point of view.
4. 1 mentioned that I shall be visiting Hong Kong for a fortnight after Easter. I should certainly be prepared to discuss the situation with the Secretary for Security; indeed I will need to
do so since a reply to his letter of 27 February is outstanding. But I do not think that this visit will be the right occasion for consultation about the details of the new scheme. The flome Office memorandum scarcely provides an adequate basis for that.
5. lf in the light of the above you decide to hold a meeting before Easter, I would be happy to attend or to be represented. It would in any case be helpful to have a word before I go to Hong Kong.
CONFIDENTIAL
16.