XN000022-1985-02-06 — Page 12

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1985

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BN(0) RIGHT OF ABODE AND BN(0) CONSULAR PROTECTION - ETHNIC MINORITIES WHO WERE BDTCS WOULD CONTINUE TO HAVE A RIGHT OF ABODE IN HONG KONG AFTER 1997 AND ARE ELIGIBLE TO BECOME BN(0)S, BUT WOULD THEY ENJOY BRITISH CONSULAR PROTECTION WITHIN THE HONG KONG SAR AS THEY WERE NOT CHINESE NATIONALS?

BOC CONSULAR PROTECTION - ASSUMING THAT A BOC HAS NOT ACQUIRED CHINESE NATIONALITY, WHAT CONSULAR PROTECTION, IF ANY, IS HE ENTITLED TO IN THE HONG KONG SAR AFTER 1997.

MR TONG SAID IT APPEARED NON-CHINESE BN(0)S WOULD HAVE NO REAL NATIONAL STATUS IN HONG KONG, WHICH MIGHT BE THE ONLY TERRITORY IN WHICH THEY HAD A RIGHT OF ABODE.

THERE WAS A FURTHER QUESTION AS TO WHICH COUNTRY NON-CHINESE BN(0)S TRAVELLING ON THE BN(0) TRAVEL DOCUMENT SHOULD BE REPATRIATED IN THE EVENT THAT THEY HAD TO FACE REPATRIATION.

MR TONG SAID HONG KONG WAS WELL SERVED BY ITS MINORITIES, MANY OF WHOM HAD BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN ONE GENERATION ALREADY.

+FOR THESE PEOPLE, WHATEVER THEIR NUMBER, THERE MUST BE A SATISFACTORY FORMULA TO RESOLVE STATELESSNESS.

+ I BELIEVE THAT TRANSMISSIBILITY OF BOC STATUS SHOULD BE EXTENDED AND THE QUESTION OF CONSULAR RESPONSIBILITY MUST BE RESOLVED SATISFACTORILY AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE, HE SAID,

CONSULTATIONS HELD ON ELECTIONS ***

MEETINGS HAD BEEN HELD WITH THE NINE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES TO EXPLAIN THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION AND THE PROCEDURES WHICH WOULD BE FOLLOWED IN CONDUCTING THE ELECTIONS TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL LATER THIS YEAR, AND TO SEEK THE IR COMMENTS, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, THE HON SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF THE WHITE PAPER ON THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG ON NOVEMBER 21, 1984, SIR PHILIP SAID, THE DIRECTOR OF THE COUNCILS AND ADMINISTRATION BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT AND MEMBERS OF HIS STAFF HELD A SERIES OF INFORMAL MEETINGS WITH THE CHAIRMEN, PRESIDENTS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS OF THE VARIOUS REPRESENTATIVE ORGANISATIONS ON WHICH THE TWO TYPES OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES WOULD BE BASED,

/THOSE COMPRISING