WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1981
7
SIR JACK SPEAKS ON NATIONALITY ACT
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HONG KONG MUST ACCEPT THE ASSURANCES GIVEN BY UK MINISTERS THAT THE NEW NATIONALITY ACT RECENTLY PASSED BY PARLIAMENT WILL IN NO WAY ALTER THE UK GOVERNMENT'S RELATIONSHIP WITH, AND ITS COMMITMENT TO, HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR JACK CATER SAID TODAY.
WHILE HONG KONG WOULD MUCH HAVE PREFERRED NO CHANGE AT ALL, HE SAID, IN PURELY PRACTICAL IMMIGRATION TERMS THE ACT WAS NOW PROBABLY AS NEUTRAL AS IT COULD BE IN ITS EFFECTS ON THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF HONG KONG'S CITIZENS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND COLONIES.
+BUT THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMS, THE CHANGES HAVE COME AS AN UNPLEASANT AND UNWELCOME SHOCK, + HE SAID.
SIR JACK NOTED THERE HAD BEEN A LARGE VOLUME OF EXCHANGES AT VARIOUS LEVELS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND LONDON - INVOLVING THE GOVERNOR, SENIOR UNOFFICIALS OF THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS, PRIVATE ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS OUR SUPPORTERS IN THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
THE RESULT IS THAT, FROM HONG KONG'S POINT OF VIEW THE NEW ACT IS A CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENT ON THE BILL AS IT WAS FIRST PRESENTED IN JANUARY, HE SAID.
NEVERTHELESS IT SEEMED A GREAT PITY TO HIM THAT WE HAD NOT GOT IN THE ACT A SPECIFIC STATEMENT THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE ARE AND WILL REMAIN BRITISH, OR UNITED KINGDOM, NATIONALS.
+AFTER ALL, SUCH A STATEMENT WOULD SIMPLY BE RESTATING IN THE LAW WHAT MINISTERS HAVE STATED UNEQUIVOCALLY IN PARLIAMENT.+
IT WAS A FACT THAT THIS ERMINOLOGY HAD NEVER BEEN USED IN THE UK'S NATIONALITY LAW - ALTHOUGH IT CERTAINLY EXISTS IN THE SPECIFIC CONTEXTS OF SOME OTHER UK LEGISLATION.
+ IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT SOME INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS CONSIDER THAT A NATIONAL OF A COUNTRY HAS AN AUTOMATIC RIGHT OF ENTRY TO IT, HE SAID, ADDING THAT VERY FEW COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO ACCEPT LARGE-SCALE IMMIGRATION +AND NO-ONE KNOWS THAT BETTER THAN HONG KONG,+
NEVERTHELESS, HE ADDED, WE MUST ALL BE DISAPPOINTED THAT AN ELEMENT OF DISCRIMINATION HAS BEEN PERMITTED TO BE EMBODIED IN THE ACT IN TERMS OF TREATMENT GIVEN TO THE BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES.
SIR JACK RECALLED THAT THIS HAD BEEN THE SUBJECT OF DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON OCTOBER 27 WHEN SIR PAUL BRYAN HAD ASKED FOR CONFIRMATION THAT BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORY CITIZENS HELD AND ENJOYED THE STATUS OF UNITED KINGDOM NATIONALS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE IR TERRITORY REMAINED ON THE SCHEDULE.
/THE
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