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than 5 years to apply for BDTC status. Not all have applied.
6.
Under the Basic Law foreign nationals (who have chosen Hong Kong as their home and have 7 years' residence) will have right of abode under Article 24 (4). Those with a form of British nationality qualify for right of abode post-1997 either under Article 24 (4) or under Article 24 (6). Those in category (ii) who for whatever reason have not chosen to register as a BDTC or who have not fulfilled the 5 year residence qualification, have no certain status until they are defined as "a person not of Chinese nationality". The Chinese have so far fought shy of defining precisely who is a Chinese national. But discussions continue in the JLG.
7.
The Chinese have sought to reassure the ethnic minority. We understand that Liu Ping recently reaffirmed assurances that members of the ethnic community would be welcome to stay in Hong Kong post-1997 and told members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce on a visit to Peking that ethnic minorities might apply for Chinese citizenship as well as Special Administrative Region (SAR) passports after 1997.
British Nationality
8. BDTC status ends with the change of sovereignty. BDTCs are invited to register as British Nationals (Overseas); a status created under the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. Any BDTCS who fail to register as BNOS will automatically become British Overseas Citizens post 1997. BN (0) status is not transmissible to the holder's children but the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 Section 6(2), (3) and (4) allows the children and grandchildren of BDTCS to acquire BOC status if they would otherwise be stateless. These are generous provisions made with the ethnic minorities in mind.
Eligibility for British Nationality Scheme
•
All BDTCs are eligible to compete under the the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990. The second tranche will start early in 1994. Ethnic origin is not a factor in the scheme (and since information is not collected on such a basis we have no figures to show the success to date of the ethnic minorities in the scheme).
British Citizenship for Wives and Widows of Ex-Servicemen
(B)
10. During the second reading of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 the Home Secretary gave an assurance that the spouses of any British citizens who had died and who had been resident in Hong Kong would be allowed to come to the United Kingdom to settle and to apply for British citizenship in the normal way. The assurance was extended to the wives and widows of those servicemen who served in the defence of
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