CONFIDENTIAL
future of territory.
Over 100 applications for registration, mostly
from Hong Kong civil servants, received in the early part of the
year by Hong Kong Government, although none yet passed on to Home
Office.
8.
We have been in correspondence with Hong Kong and the Home Office about the wording of letters replying to (and rejecting)
these applications. The Secretary of State has written to the Home
Secretary, asking that the letters should be phrased so that
they clearly do not shut the door on re-applications in the future. At the same time he has drawn Mr Brittain's attention to the wider
problems in the context of the future.
9. The issue caught media's attention in Hong Kong and UK in
April 1983, when Local Inspector's Association of Royal Hong Kong Police Force considered circulating members to ask them if they wished Association to 'represent' Inspectors in 'negotiations over their right of abode in the UK'. Senior policemen and other civil
service unions rapidly defused situation by saying it was too early
to consider issue. Hong Kong Government took a similar line
advising that while talks were continuing, such questions were hypothetical. No press interest since then, although issue remains important for many senior civil servants in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Department September 1983
CONFIDENTIAL