18.
C.0.
.9243
123 FE
20 FEL 25
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG.
14th January, 1925.
7
Sir,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt
of your despatch No.374 of the 26th of November with regard
to the national status of the Chinese student Ho Lin Kwai
and the documents issued to him by this Government.
2.
As you are aware the question of the national
status of British-born Chinese has been the cause of
innumerable difficulties in the past. Even when a claim to British nationality is clearly established the issue of official documents admitting the claim is often very undesirable in view of the extraterritorial rights enjoyed by British subjects in China and the claims to protection in China which are liable to be based on such documents,
Chinese theory bases nationality on race and
not on birth place, so that a British-born Chinese has really a dual nationality; and for this reason and because in practice an individual of Chinese race entitled to recognition as a British subject can easily pose as a Chinese citizen until it suits his convenience to claim British nationality, it has been the practice of this Government to be extremely chary of issuing documents which establish British nationality and the fact that a Chinese
RIGHT HONOURABLE
LIEUTENANT COLONEL L.C.M.8. AMERY, M.P., &C..
&c.
has
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