CONFIDEN
HIGH OV/4
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
5 JAN 1985
DESK OFFICER
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
From The Minister of State
INDEX
REGISTRY
PA
Action Taken
23 December 1985
Dear David
HONG KONG NATIONALITY ORDER IN COUNCIL
We now expect the Parliamentary debate on the Hong Kong nationality Order in Council to take place on 16 January.
I understand that the Unofficial members of the Hong Kong Executive and Legislative Councils will be writing to MPs and Members of the House of Lords summarising the points made in the Legislative Council debate of the draft Order on 4 December. On the basis of past debates on Hong Kong matters, MPs will probably raise a number of these points, and will wish to know that Ministers have been fully briefed on Hong Kong views. With this in mind I enclose two special reports we have commissioned from the Governor of Hong Kong: (a) a report on views expressed by the people of Hong Kong and in the press on the White Paper and (b) a series of telegrams reporting the debate on the Order in Council in the Hong Kong Legislative Council, and reaction to it. You may wish to refer in your speech to the fact that the Governor of Hong Kong has kept you fully informed on reaction in Hong Kong to the Order.
As you will see from the reports, the key issue from the Hong Kong point of view is the acceptability of BN (O) passports in third countries. We will need to reassure the people of Hong Kong on this point, by explaining that we will do all that we can to ensure that BN (0) passport holders ensure the same access to other countries as currently enjoyed by BDTCs, and that it will not be necessary to carry an ID card as well as a BN (0) passport. In the same context it has been suggested in Hong Kong that HMG ought to take the lead in making the new passport acceptable by endorsing it to show that there is no visa requirement for entry to the UK. understand that your officials are considering this proposal, which I regard is important.
I
Another issue which has attracted considerable attention in Hong Kong (and some also here) has been whether HMG should grant British citizenship to non-Chinese BDTCS (the Indian community have been particularly pressing on this issue) and to some 400 former ex- servicemen in Hong Kong. A number of LEGCO members spoke strongly in favour of these propositions during the debate.
/FCO
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