CONFIDENTIAL
Denmark
France
not have to leave the territory. But the
Canadian Foreign Minister warned the Secretary
of State that it would be very difficult for
Canada to take measures similar to our own
nationality scheme because Canada could not
discriminate in favour of Hong Kong. Canadian
officials have explained that it would not be
possible to modify nationality legislation to
enable Hong Kong people to acquire citizenship
without completing the normal residence
requirement since this would run counter to the
principle of universality of application. But
they have suggested that there might be some
scope for making wider use of the "returning resident scheme", whereby Hong Kong people could arrive in Canada, acquire landed
immigrant status and then get permission to
move back to Hong Kong to take up their jobs
again.
Very little chance of securing offers of Danish
citizenship but guarantees of right of
residence have not been ruled out. The Danish
Foreign Minister, Ellemann-Jensen, is
personally sympathetic to our request.
The Quai have confirmed that full
naturalisation will be given to a limited number of key staff in French firms in Hong
Kong (20 to 30 in addition to the 80 given full
nationality in 1989). A further 1,000-1,200
will be given travel permits (equivalent to a
temporary passport valid only for a single trip
from Hong Kong to France). On arrival in
France they could then apply for naturalisation
or right of abode. The French Consulate in
Hong Kong will shortly be asking French firms
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