Declaration,
non-Chinese nationals will have the right of
abode in the Hong Kong Special
("SAR") if they have ordinarily
Administrative Region
resided in Hong Kong for a
continuous period of seven years or more and have taken
Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence, or, if
they had the right of abode only in Hong Kong before the
establishment of the SAR.
7.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides
Article 15 (1) "Everyone has the right to a nationality"
Article 15 (2) "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his nationality".
7.1. Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs of HMG said of BN (0) status in a speech in
the House of Commons on the second reading of the Hong Kong
Bill on the 21st January
"the title must clearly
carry
1985
no implication of a
continuing constitutional
relationship between Britain and Hong Kong after 1997."
7.2
The
Chinese Memoranda describes the passports
issued to BN (0) s in the context of their use by those
Chinese nationals
who have also enjoyed BN (0) status, as
BN(0)
"British Travel Documents". Since the PRC do not recognise
dual
nationality for any Chinese
national
(Chinese
Nationality Law Article 3) it was necessary for them so to
describe such
documents.
But if the passports issued to
BN(O) s are only "Travel Documents"
from the point of view
of the PRC, when they are held by Chinese nationals, they
cannot enjoy any different character when held by Hong Kong
Indians.
7.3
It may be doubted, accordingly, whether in the
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