22-JAN-1991 14:45
DIRECTOR OF ADM.
308
NYL. Sch. J. Int'l & Comp. L.
852 877 0802
P.31
[Vol 5
Chinese nationals to an insignificant number, although exact statistics are unavailable.1o1
Effective as the 1980 Nationality Law may be in reducing the number of dual nationals among the Huachiaos, it has not completely eliminated the possibility of duality for subjects residing abroad and "at home" in China. Dual nationality may still occur in cases of birth, foreign naturalization and change of personal status.
1. Original Acquisition at Birth
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Through a combination of the doctrines of jus sanguinis and jus soli and by granting women the right to bequeath nationality, article 4 may create dual nationality at birth in four ways. First, consider a couple composed of a foreign husband and Chinese wife (the particular sexes may be relevant to the foreign law, though not to China's). If the couple were settled in China, their progeny born in China would in- herit Chinese nationality and possibly the foreign one as well, if the applicable foreign nationality law followed the principle of pure jus sanguinis. Even if the same couple were settled abroad, as long as the mother gave birth on Chinese soil, the child would also acquire Chinese nationality.
Second, consider the same couple, settled in China, but whose child is born while the parents are visiting relatives in the husband's country. The child would definitely acquire the father's nationality, whether his country subscribes to jus sanguinis or jus soli. Because both parents are settled in China and one parent is Chinese, the child would also acquire Chinese nationality at birth. If the couple were vis- iting a third state-like Canada or the United States which subscribe to pure jus soli—and the husband's state subscribes to jus sanguinis, triple nationality could conceivably occur.
Third, dual nationality is not confined to the children of Chinese/ foreign couples alone. A Chinese couple who are "settled” in China but give birth while abroad would bequeath Chinese nationality to the child. If progeny were born in a country subscribing to the principle of jus soli, dual nationality would again result.
A fourth case is a couple comprised of a Chinese and a stateless person or a person of uncertain nationality. If this couple were settled in China, but bore a child while outside China, the newborn could be a dual national if the land of birth follows jus soli, since Chinese nation-
101. The author has interviewed overseas Chinese in various Southeast Asian countries.
102. Article 4 of the 1980 Nationality Law awards Chinese nationality to children born in China if at least one parent is a Chinese national.