14 86 16:38 GMT HO 2 LUNAR HOUSE
guantes the wit- 1 book of the ether civities, but the
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service will the works 1 Hay Kay life Mus they unde suda valable contubation will be changed et 1997.
rights of atode)
12. 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 Specia
Administrative region. The future of the non-ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong will
therefore be secured as a matter of local and international law. And there is a to trih Koto Clein Enture in Hong Kong with not. Je secure
secure wat succended. The great and my specially fo
und
13. Furthermore, British citizenship would not benefit third and subsequent
generations born after 1997 any more than would British Overseas citizenship.
British citizenship can generally be acquired by only two generations born abroad.
14. So British citizenship cannot strengthen these people's position in Hong Kong:
nor can it extend to more than 2 generations born in Hong Kong after 1997. It
is not therefore necessary to meet their real needs.
15. But there are also points of principle and fairness which I ask your Lordships
to consider. It has been argued that whatever we do for the people of Hong Kong
has no implications for British nationals elsewhere in the world. With respect,
we doubt that, One of the aims of the British Nationality Act 1981 which were
fully discussed in this House and accepted by your Lordships was to confer on Britis
nationals a form of nationality which accurately reflected their links with the
United Kingdom or elsewhere. British citizenship surely must be a reflection of
a person's links with the United Kingdom itself. Generally speaking, British
nationals connected with former dependencies became British Overseas citizens on
1 January 1983. The special position of Hong Kong has been recognised through
the arrangements we have prepared for all Hong Kong BDTCs to have the right to
acquire British National (Overseas) status. If they do not do so, then it would
be a proper reflection of their position for them to be British Overseas oitizens.
To grant them British citizenship would be wholly anomalous.
16.
We must also consider the effect on other British Overseas citizens. There
are about 2 million British Overseas citizens throughout the world, of whom about
800,000 have no other nationality. We must have regard to their position if we
were to conclude that British Overseas citizenship was not an appropriate form
of nationality for some people in Hong Kong.
British Overseas citizenship has already been extensively considered by Parliament
and it is now a widely recognised and understood nationality status. Like BN(0)
status, it fully meats our international obligatione to reduce statelessness.