1993-07-23 18:24 SECURITY BRANCH
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Assurances to ŝthnic minorities/ British Passport Ho.
Background
The House of Lords on 15 July, in a surprise vote helped by Baroness Dunn, supported the LegCo/8RG case for full British citizenship for the 5 000 - 7 000 non-Chinese who have
3. oniy BDTC/BN(0) passports. The Commons now has to reconsidet. At the same time Baroness Dunn has drawn attention to the narrowing by the Home Office of their fallback worst-case assurance to ethnic minorities only.
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This now risks turning into a much wider and more emotive issue, linked back to the feeling of betrayal underlying HK nationality issues since the British Nationality Act of 1981. A recent LegCo delegation to London was actually told by the dome Secretary himself that the assurance covered all British passport-holders; the new specificity and-manner 26. the retraction will make things worse.
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The Home Secretary has written to Emily Lau explaining that ethnic Chinese HK British passport holders are excluded from the assurance because "they will be in a totally different position, since they will automatically be Chinese nationals with all that goes with the status of citizenship. On closer analysis this may cause even more trouble, with a China angle; people may point out that the worst case will be caused by China, so telling people they are all right because they have right of abode in China, and consular protection from the Chinese Government, is hardly an honorable position for the British to take.
Line to take
Hong Kong supports the ethnic minorities' case for full British citizenship and we are glad that House of Lords does too. Only about 7,000 passports would be involved. reinforced this case when I was in London last week,
The final decision on it, and the precise terms and Lemit of any alternative fall-back immigration assurance given for a worst-case situation, are obviously primarily matters for the Home Secretary.
If, however, against all our expectations, the worst were to happen in HK after 1997, then Britain would have a special responsibility to mobilise not just a British but an international response, as Geoffrey Howe said to the FAC in 1989; and the British Government still holds to this pledge.
Too many debates about speculative worst-case situations are not very helpful; our job in UK is to do all we can to make sure such a worst-case does not happen here.
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