DRAFT LINE TO TAKE
CONFIDENTIAL
Will Hong Kong Chinese who obtain British citizenship in Hong Kong
under the scheme be entitled to British Consular Protection in Hong
Kong?
HMG are determined to ensure that the interests of British
citizens will be protected to the fullest extent possible under
international law.
The Basic Law following the Joint Declaration, provides that people in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region after 1997
will have the full protection of the law, including basic human rights, as enshrined in the International Covenant of Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic Social
and Cultural Rights.
The key question in any case is not the exercise of consular protection, but whether Hong Kong people are free to come and go as
they please, and freedom of movement is guaranteed by the Joint
Declaration and the Basic Law.
- It is our understanding that Hong Kong Chinese who obtain British citizenship under the scheme would have to renounce their Chinese citizenship in order for the Chinese authorities to regard them as
foreigners.
We shall be discussing the matter with the Chinese authorities in
due course.
-
[Only if pressed] Can confirm that in the case of persons who are
claimed as nationals by one or more other states, it is our normal
practice not to seek to exercise consular protection in the country
of their other nationality.
-
This is in common with a number of other countries, and consistent with the Hague Convention on Conflict of Nationality Laws (1930).
KIPACZ
CONFIDENTIAL