CONFIDENTIAL
機密
A
For information
XCCI(80)19
Copy No..28. of 70 Page 1
NOTE FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
UNITED KINGDOM WHITE PAPER
ON BRITISH NATIONALITY LAW
Members were informed on 8th July of the impending publication
of a White Paper on British Nationality Law. An advance copy of the White Paper has now been received and is attached at Annex A. Although some of its provisions appear already to have leaked in the United Kingdom it will be published there at 6 p. m. (Hong Kong time) on 30th July and the Home Secretary is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons a few hours later.
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It seems certain that the Paper will be debated in Parliament and a Bill will be introduced during the next Parliamentary session and as soon as parliamentary time permits. The decision of Her Majesty's Government to publish their views in the form of a White Paper before the presentation of the Bill to Parliament will give Hong Kong and other interested parties an opportunity to make further comments and represen- tations through official channels and by lobbying both prior to the debate on the White Paper and during the course of the Bill through Parliament.
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At Annex B is a comparative table of the present position of Hong Kong passport holders, their position following the 1977 Green Paper proposals and their position following the White Paper proposals.
이
G.S. 166
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At Annex C is a press statement which will be released on 30th July 1980.
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Matters of particular concern to Members in the proposals in the Green Paper were the proposed 2-tier citizenship and the limitations on citizenship by descent which could affect businessmen working overseas.
3-tier instead of 2-tier citizenship proposals
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The main difference between proposals in the Green Paper and those in the White Paper is the prosivion of three categories of citizenship instead of two. Her Majesty's Government were impressed with the argu- ment made strongly by Hong Kong and other dependencies that positive recognition of the status of the remaining dependencies should be given in citizenship terms. It is proposed that citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who derive their British nationality from close connections with a dependency should be given a separate status. It is further proposed that they be called Citizens of the British Dependent Territories. Dependencies which issue their own passports will continue to do so and this passport will continue to identify the holder with the dependency.
CONFIDENTIAL #2