22-JAN-1991 14:40
DIRECTOR OF ADM.
852 877 0802
P.24
1984]
NATIONALITY LAW OF THE PRC
301
formal appellate procedure by which an aggrieved individual, whether foreign or Chinese, may seek reexamination of a rejected application. An informal appeal for administrative review to the higher echelons of the administrative authorities, however, may be available. Another de- fect is the absence of a concrete time period within which an applica- tion for naturalization, renunciation or restoration must be processed. Thus, an application conceivably may be "set aside" indefinitely for undisclosed private reasons.
E. The Application of the Law
Since the PRC's first formal nationality legislation was not en- acted until 19807 and since the 1980 law is not retroactive, obvious questions arise as to what law governs events which occurred during the 1949 to 1980 "silent period," when no formal nationality law was in force. The Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consult- ative Conference of September 29, 1949 proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. This statute, which served until 1954 as an interim government charter," repudiated all "reactionary laws" of the Nationalist regime. The Kuomintang's 1929 Nationality Law appears to have fallen into this category," although its demise has been disputed."
Nationality problems during the "silent period" were largely ad- dressed through internal administrative directives which, as far as can be discerned from the limited information available, do not differ sig- nificantly from the current formal legislation. Moreover, international conflicts involving nationality status were handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign government involved through treaties or ad hoc settlements." Thus, all events related to nationality during
76. See 1980 Nationality Law, art. 18.
77. For an English translation of the Common Program, see Fundamental Legal Documents op Communist China 34-53 (Blaustein ed. 1962).
78. M. JIN & F. CAL supra note 1, at 5. Several principles inherent in the 1929 law differ significantly from the basic policy of the present Government, e.g., adherence to the principles of sexual and racial equality and nonrecognition of dual nationality. Ac- cordingly, it is unlikely that the 1929 law remained in force after 1949. In fact, PRC commentators unanimously agree that the Nationality Law of 1929 was abolished to gether with all other laws of the Kuomintang Government.
The PRC commentators, however, also agree that the 1980 Nationality Law contin- ues to recognize the validity of Chinese nationality acquired or lost under the previous three statutes. See Zhang & Lu, supra note 1, at 48; Sheng, supra note 1, at 204; Wang, supra note 1, at 220.
79. See Ginsburgs, supra note 1, at 459-60.
80. See id. at 465-71. Under the internal administrative directives it was decided, for example, that (1) a Chinese woman did not automatically lose her Chinese nationality