.07 '86 16:31 GMT HO 2 LUNAR HOUSE
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the British Nationality Act 1981. We will give sympathetic consideration to applications under this provision from any of these former servicemen who are eligible. The remaining 210 or so are not eligible under this provision.
But
my rt hon Friend the Home Secretary has agreed that any of the 270 (including the 60 who may apply for British citizenship) may come here for settlement if they wish, together with their dependants. Once settled here, they will, of course, be eligibl‹ to apply for British citizenship in the normal way. We are glad that the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils have accepted these arrangements as a fitting recognition of the service these people have given to Hong Kong, and we are pleased to have been able to mark their special contribution in this way.
10.
We do not, however, believe it would be right to grant the request on behalf of those British Dependent Territories citizens in Hong Kong who are not ethnically Chinese and who have no other form of citizenship. We considered their position very carefully and indeed sympathetically. We accept our responsibility to them and we wanted to make absolutely sure that we met it in the best and fairest way possible fair, not only to those citizens in Hong Kong but to others in Hong Kong and throughout the world. The British Dependent Territories citizens who are not ethnically Chinese have made it plain they want to continue to live and work in Hong Kong and to have a citizenship status that will allow them to continue to travel to other countries. And they are concerned about their children and grandchildren. Our arrangements meet fully and precisely each of these concerns.
11.
British citizenship cannot secure anyone's future in Hong Kong after 1997. This has been secured in the only way possible through the agreement with the Chinese. The agreement which guarantees that right of abode is internationally binding, and its provisions will be written into a basic law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region. The future of the non-ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong will therefore be secured as a matter of national and international law.
12.
Furthermore, British citizenship would not benefit third and subsequent generations born after 1997 any more than British Overseas citizenship. British citizenship can generally be acquired by only two generations born abroad.
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