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B
would retain a form
of
British
generation which would not be
transmissible
nationality for one
to their
children. The Hong Kong Act enables US to legislate
to implement this Memorandum and to create a new
nationality status
British National
known
as
(Overseas) through an Order in Council. This Order in Council has now been drafted and will be introduced to
Parliament by the Home Secretary in early December. We have agreed in the face of Parliamentary pressure
that the Order should first be debated with "green
edges", withdrawn to take account of comments and
reintroduced for debate in the usual way under
affirmative resolution procedures. I attach a draft
of the White Paper introducing the Order in Council.
11. Related to the introduction of the new status we
will need to provide for the issue of new British National (Overseas) passports from 1987. We need to
agree with the Chinese a form of words to be inserted in these passports that will indicate that the holder has the right of abode in Hong Kong and after 1997 in
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
12.
No issue is more sensitive
sensitive in Hong Kong than the
issue of nationality. HMG i s regarded with deep
suspicision, mostly arising out of the BNA 1981.
It
i s too much to hope that we shall redeem ourselves,
but we need to tread carefully.
Garrison
13.
The OD (K) commitee has agreed to a proposal
a proposal from
Hong Kong that the planned construction of a new barracks at Kohima should not go ahead, and that the
garrison should be reduced from five to four battalions in 1987. We are studying with the MOD the
longer term future of the garrison and whether it
should be partially replaced before 1997 by an internal defence force or a strengthened police force. This issue is potentially sensitive in Hong Kong.
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