2
in the form of enclosure No.1 to Sir Cecil Clementi's
despatch. At the same time I venture to remind Your
Lordship that a large and increasing number of persons
of Chinese race in all walks of life can claim Hong
Kong birth and if ordinary passports in general terms
can be claimed by students who se entry into Great
Britain is desirable, they may equally well be claimed
by respectable British born Chinese of the poorer classes
who wish to enter for the purpose of competing in the
home labour market e.g., in the calling of laundry-man.
A student's certificate is a special document which can
be refused without serious difficulty when the special
circumstances appropriate thereto are absent. A
British passport, apart from proof of nationality (according to British Law) and respectability, calls
for no special qualifications in the applicant and if
it can be obtained from the Passport Office in London
should presumably be obtainable by any qualified
applicant from any British passport authority and in
particular by any respectable Hong Kong born Chinese
artisan from the Hong Kong Passport Office.
3.
It is apposite to record here the figures
for the registration of births in Hong Kong of
children of Chinese race during the last few years.
They are:-
Males
1926 Females
1927 Males
Females
1928 Males
Females
1929 Males
2022)- 3224 1202)
4128)- 7176
3048)
5265)-8973
3708
Females
5103) 9272 4169
It.