DRAFT LETTER
ADDRESSEE'S REFERENCE .............................
TO
Vivian W H Bendall Esq MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A OAA
FILE NUMBER IMG/86 9/387/2(S)
ENCLOSURES
COPIES TO BE SENT TO
(FULL POSTAL ADDRESS)
(FULL ADDRESSES, IF NECESSARY)
LETTER DRAFTED FOR SIGNATURE BY
Mr Waddington
(NAME OF SIGNATORY)
Thank you for your letter of 21 January about the position of
Indians in Hong Kong and the concerns expressed by Mr Narain of the
Hong Kong Indians Association.
S 536
H.O. EST. 112
I appreciate your concern about the position of the non ethnic
Chinese in Hong Kong indeed this concern was echoed in the course of the debate in the House on 16 January when the draft Order in Council under the Hong Kong Act was discussed. However, as I explained
on that occasion, we have already undertaken to meet these potential
difficulties in a number of ways. First, the agreement with the
Chinese guarantees to all Hong Kong BDTCs, except those who have left
Hong Kong permanently and have the right of abode elsewhere, the
right of abode in Hong Kong from 1 July 1997; and the draft Order in Council gives all Hong Kong BDTCs the right to register as British Nationals (Overseas). Furthermore, the Government has given a firm
undertaking that no former Hong Kong BDTC, nor any child or grandchild
born after June 1997 to such a person, will remain stateless as a
result of the agreement. Article 6 of the draft Order in Council
provides for any of those in this category who would otherwise be
stateless to acquire British Overseas citizenship. Such people would
also be able to apply to become Chinese nationals. Thus the agreement reached with the Chinese and the arrangements that we have introduced to implement that agreement seek to meet the potential problem of
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