CONFIDENTIAL
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Christopher Howells "the
Mr Howells NTD
AF21110
HONG KONG: CALL ON PUS BY SIR S Y CHUNG:
1.
BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT
During his call on 12 October, Sir S Y Chung raised the
question of nomenclature in Hong Kong passports. He stressed the importance of clarifying this and said that it would be very difficult to get the Executive Council to agree to
pass the consequential legislation for the Territory
following the British Nationality Act unless they could be
described as British in their passports. He stressed that
the point was not that they wanted entry to the UK, they
accepted that this was not possible. It was, however, very
important that the link with Britain and the reality of
Britain's commitment should be underlined by acknowledging
that they were British. This would show that the Prime
Minister's remarks on moral responsibility to Hong Kong were
genuine. He referred to the letter sent under the brief prema's administration by Lord Goronwy-Roberts undertaking that there
would be no deterioration in the status of the people in Hong
Kong as a result of the Nationality Act.
2.
The PUS asked: (a) whether the Chinese Government would
react badly to such a move; and (b) what exactly was the Hong
Kong purpose in getting this designation in their passports,
granted that they admit there was no practical advantage in
terms of right of abode. Sir S Y said that he thought that
the Chinse would not react. They already regarded people in
a
Hong Kong as Chinese citizens anyway. He emphasised that
the point was of considerable political, not merely symbolic,
importance for the people of Hong Kong. For the preservation
of confidence it was necessary for there to be a clear
understanding with HMG that they remain British.
*
CONFIDENTIAL