9
CONFIDENTIAL
GRS 700
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 2220
OF 1809OOZ OCTOBER 85
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING
VISIT OF MR. RENTON
BRIEFING TELEGRAM NO. 7 : NATIONALITY
215
COP COPY
нны 02716
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
2 1 OCT 1985
DESK OFFICEN
INDEX
PA
Actio : Taken.
LINE TO TAKE
NO PERSON WHO IS A BDTC ON 30 JUNE 1997 WILL BECOME STATELESS AS
A RESULT OF THE JOINT DECLARATION. IF NON-CHINESE BDTCS FAIL TO
BECOME BN (0)S AND HAVE NO OTHER NATIONALITY, THEY WILL BECOME BOCS:
SO WILL THEIR CHILDREN BORN AFTER 1 JULY 1997. THE IR GRANDCHILDREN
BORN AFTER 1 JULY 1997 WOULD HAVE AN ENTITLEMENT TO REGISTER AS
BOCS WITHIN TWELVE MONTHS OF THEIR BIRTH IF THEY WOULD OTHERWISE BE
STATELESS. THUS THERE WOULD BE PROVISIONS FOR BRITISH NATIONALITY
TO BE GRANTED TO THE DESCENDANTS OF NON-CHINESE HONG KONG BDTCS
UP TO THE MIDDLE OF THE NEXT CENTURY.
2. THE JOINT DECLARATION PROVIDES FOR ALL NON-CHINESE NATIONALS WHO
HAVE ORDINARILY RESIDED IN HONG KONG FOR 7 YEARS OR MORE AND HAVE
TAKEN HONG KONG AS THEIR PLACE OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE, OR WHO HAVE
THE RIGHT OF ABODE ONLY IN HONG KONG BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HONG KONG SAR, TO HAVE THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE HONG KONG SAR. THUS, THEY WOULD NOT BE LEFT WTHOUT A PLACE TO CALL THEIR HOME.
3. AS BN (0)S, THEY WILL HAVE BROADLY THE SAME BENEFITS AS BDTCS : RIGHT TO HOLD BRITISH PASSPORTS: CONSULAR PROTECTION BY BRITISH POSTS IN HONG KONG AND IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES: AND ELIGIBILITY TO
REGISTER AS BCS. THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR GRANTING
RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE UK AFTER 1997 TO HONG KONG BDTCS WHO DO NOT
NOW HAVE RIGHT OF ABODE IN UK.
BACKGROUND
4. THE DRAFT HONG KONG (BRITISH NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986 WAS
PUBLISHED ON 17 OCTOBER 1985 SIMULTANEOUSLY IN HONG KONG AND LONDON.
IT HAS AROUSED WIDESPREAD INTEREOT, AND WILL BE SUBJECT TO CAREFUL
SCRUTINY. THE MAIN POINT OF CONCERN IS THE AS YET UNPROVEN
ACCEPTABILITY OF 3N(0) PASSPORTS, PARTICULARLY SINCE THERE IS
CONTINUING UNCERTAINTY OVER THE WORDING OF THE RIGHT OF ABODE
ENDORSEMENT.
CONFIDENTIAL
15.
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