4.
An Order in Council made under the Hong Kong Act 1985 is
necessary to implement this agreement. The Order is to be made
under the affirmative resolution procedure. But once laid, it can
either be approved or rejected by the House; it cannot be amended.
5.
Understandably, the details of the Order are of great concern
in Hong Kong, and the nationality provisions were the subject of
the bulk of the debates in Parliament on the Agreement and on the
Hong Kong Bill. To meet this concern, it was agreed that a draft
of a draft Order (described as "an Order with green edges") should
be submitted to Parliament for full debate. The Government would
then consider whether or not the points made during the debates
called for any changes to be made in the draft, in so far as these
were consistent with the Hong Kong Act. The re-draft would then
be presented for approval in the normal way.
6.
The Government stated during the course of the debate on
the Bill that it was the intention to make the Order within a year
of the Passage of the Bill (that is by April 1986). In order to meet this target date it is intended to re-present the draft Order, amended as necessary in the light of the debates, to Parliament
fairly early in the New Year.
7.
Both the White Paper and the draft Order have been agreed with FCO, and with Hong Kong officials, and with the Executive
Council of Hong Kong.
8.
Judging from the points made during the earlier debates, and the representations made since April, the major issues which
members are likely to raise during the debates are:
a)
the position of non-ethnic Chinese BDTCs in
Hong Kong and their descendents
b)
the acceptability of BN (0) passports to
third countries
c)
the right of abode endorsement to be entered
in BN (0) passports.
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