UNCLASSIFIED
(40
136404
UNCLASSIFIED
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 2152
OF 110345Z JULY 90
MDLIAN 5114
HKB301
A
do.
12 JUL 1990
(a fm117
INFO ROUTINE HKGO LONDON, PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
INFO ROUTINE HKGO WASHINGTON, HKGO NEW YORK, HKGO SAN FRANCISCO INFO ROUTINE HKGO GENEVA, UKMIS GENEVA
HONG KONG AGREEMENT: PRESS COVERAGE: WEEKLY ROUNDUP
SUMMARY
1. ALTHOUGH MEDIA COVERAGE OF NEWS RELATING TO THE FUTURE OF THE TERRITORY WAS NOT PROMINENT DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW, THERE HAD BEEN SOME ITEMS OF SIGNIFICANCE.
NATIONALITY
2. THE HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES (6.7) REPORTED THAT THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS FOR NATURALISATION TO BRITISH SUBJECTS HAD SOARED IN JUNE. SOME 1,121 APPLICATIONS HAD BEEN RECEIVED, A 250 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE SAME MONTH LAST YEAR. THE FOREIGN SECRETARY SAID IN A TV INTERVIEW IN THE U.S. THAT THE BRITISH NATIONALITY PACKAGE WAS DESIGNED TO PERSUADE KEY PEOPLE IN HONG KONG TO REMAIN IN THE TERRITORY SO AS TO ENSURE A SMOOTH TRANSITION, THE MEDIA (10.7) REPORTED.
3. SING TAO JIH PAO (9.7) REPORTED THAT THE CHINESE INTENDED TO ASK THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE A LIST OF THE 50,000 BENEFICIARIES UNDER THE SCHEME TO THE FUTURE SAR WHEN THE TERRITORY WAS HANDED OVER IN 1997, ALTHOUGH THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAD SAID THAT THIS WOULD BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL. THE CHINESE SIDE THOUGHT THAT
THE SAR MUST KNOW CLEARLY THE BACKGROUND AND NATIONALITY OF ITS
RESIDENTS. AS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAD TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE SARG AFTER 1997, WHICH MIGHT MEAN THAT THEY HAD TO DECLARE WHETHER THEY WERE HOLDING FOREIGN PASSPORTS OR OVERSEAS RIGHT OF ABODE, THERE MUST BE WAYS TO FIND OUT WHO HAD OBTAINED THE RIGHT OF ABODE
IN THE U K. THIS COULD ALSO BE FOUND OUT THROUGH THE ISSUING DATE
OF THE PASSPORTS.
4. THE INTERIOR MINISTER OF WEST GERMANY SAID AT A SEMINAR IN
BERLIN THAT HIS GOVERNMENT WAS PLANNING TO GRANT THE RIGHT OF ABODE TO EMPLOYEES OF WEST GERMAN FIRMS IN HONG KONG, THE PAPERS (6.7) REPORTED, QUOTING A WIRE SERVICE DISPATCH. HOWEVER, THE ORIENTAL
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