CONFIDENTIAL
FM BTC HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 43
OF 050918Z FEBRUARY 91
CONFIDENTIAL
RECE
HKD 340/4
(CORRECTED VERSIONE
DES
INDEX
(37)
015317 MDLIAN 6431
FEB 1991
PARA 5)) --
ENTER
TOP COPY
CORRECTED VERSION: ORIGINATORS CORRECTION TO PAROS DIST?
35
YRTELNO 254 TO HONG KONG: BRITISH NATIONALITY (HK) ACT
1. THE HKG WILL DOUBTLESS PROVIDE FIGURES AND COMMENT ON THE LEVEL OF INTEREST IN THE NATIONALITY PACKAGE. IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF I ADD A FEW COMMENTS BASED ON THE VIEWS OF BUSINESS CONTACTS. IN MY TELNO 9 OF 9 JANUARY I SUGGESTED THAT THERE WERE A FEW STRAWS IN THE WIND THAT INDICATED THAT THE TAKE-UP OF THE BRITISH PASSPORTS MIGHT BE QUITE LOW. THERE HAVE BEEN MORE OF THESE.
2. A NUMBER OF BUSINESSMEN, BRITISH AND OTHERS, HAVE TOLD ME THAT THE RESPONSE IN THEIR FIRMS IS MUCH LESS THAN THEY HAD EXPECTED. EVEN AMONG OUR OWN STAFF THERE ARE SOME OF THE BEST QUALIFIED WHO HAD EARLIER TOLD US THAT THEY WOULD APPLY BUT WHO NOW SEEM TO HAVE LOST INTEREST. WHEN HENRY AND SIMON KESWICK HOSTED A LUNCH RECENTLY FOR RISING YOUNG EXECUTIVES IN THE JARDINE GROUP THEY ASKED WHETHER THOSE PRESENT INTENDED TO APPLY FOR BRITISH PASSPORTS. AFTER SOME SHUFFLING OF FEET AND EVASIVE REPLIES THEY WENT ROUND THE TABLE ONE BY ONE. NOT ONE WAS PLANNING TO APPLY. PRESSED FOR REASONS ALL EVENTUALLY ADMITTED THAT THEY ALREADY HAD OTHER PASSPORTS.
3. ALTHOUGH THERE IS SOME COMFORT TO BE DERIVED FROM THE NUMBER OF APPLICATION FORMS WHICH HAVE BEEN HANDED OUT I AM NOT SURE THAT THIS IS VERY REVEALING. I IMAGINE THAT MOST SERIOUS APPLICANTS WILL HAVE COLLECTED TWO OR THREE FORMS TO ALLOW FOR ROUGH WORKING, WHILE MANY FORMS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED BY COMPANIES FOR REFERENCE AND GUIDANCE PURPOSES AND THESE WILL NOT BE USED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS.
4. UNDOUBTEDLY THERE WILL BE A RUSH AT THE END. SOME FIRMS ARE ADVISING THEIR PERSONNEL TO DELAY APPLICATIONS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE JUST IN CASE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE. OTHERS ARE GIVING INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING AND ADVICE TO STAFF WHO ARE APPLYING AND THIS TAKES TIME. FOR ALL THAT IT LOOKS INCREASINGLY LIKELY THAT THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN MOST OF US EXPECTED. THOSE WHOM WE HAVE
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