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avoid arousing suspicions in the PRC but failing that the new
title should avoid any hint of a change in Hong Kong's status.
6.
Hong Kong would therefore prefer that the present title
of CUKC should be retained, preferably in its present unitary
sense but failing that as the title for colonial belongers
only. To retain it in the former sense would defeat the
principal objective of the main political parties in the UK,
while to keep it in the second sense would transparently be
purely cosmetic and by suggesting that the people concerned
were citizens of the United Kingdom as well as the colonies
would risk falling foul of some human rights or non-
discrimination principle. I therefore recommend that Lord
Carrington should agree that Hong Kong be told that this
proposal is not practicable (para 5 of the draft telegram).
However, Hong Kong have raised the major point that the
title "British Subject" should be retained in addition to
whatever citizenship title is decided to link the different
citizenship categories created by the new legislation.
present law British Subject is synonymous with Commonwealth
citizen so that citizens of all independent Commonwealth
countries and Rhodesia are British Subjects in our law.
proposed to abandon this title in the new legislation except
for 2 obsolescent categories who at present have it and for
whom no satisfactory alternative title seemed appropriate
6.
In our
It was
<
[British Subjects without citizenship and British Subject under
Section 2 of the 1948 Act (Irish Citizens born before 1/1/1948
who elect to remain British Subjects]. This proposal has been
mentioned in the Home Secretary's Paper on the new Nationality
legislation to the Home and Social Affairs Committee of the
Cabinet. Thus it had been tacitly accepted. Nevertheless,
we think that a case can be made for retention of the title
a mone
for one or more of
British Subject in the restricted sense of linking the
? Governor's
༡
alterantie
UK cir
Kit & UK Colonies
Overseas Cit
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/categories