WOHE
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HKD 340
JGT
31 July 1991
John Morris Esq
Hong Kong Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
109
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Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT
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Faxed to John Hague 3/1/1/91
Dear John,
BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) (SELECTION SCHEME) ORDER 1991
You asked last week for my views on whether an undertaking needed to be incorporated or established in Hong Kong for the purposes of attracting points for connections with the United Kingdom pursuant to Article 16 of the Selection Scheme.
2 As you know, Article 7 of the Scheme defines a a "British undertaking" as one which the Governor is satisfied has a close connection with the United Kingdom. Article 16 provides that an applicant who has the relevant service with a British undertaking "shall be allocated" points for connections with the United Kingdom. The number of points depends on length of service and on whether the applicant is still in relevant employment.
3
There is no explicit requirement in Articles 7 or 16 that the undertaking must be established in Hong Kong. Nor do I think any such requirement can validly be read into those Articles. Although the Governor has a limited discretion in deciding which companies are British undertakings, the criterion is a close connection with the United Kingdom. It would not, in my view, be a proper exercise of this discretion to take into account whether or not the company concerned also had a close connection with Hong Kong.