XN000022-1996-12-05 — Page 11

Mr Albert Ho (in Chinese): Just now the Governor has already explained the legal situation very clearly but I think Hong Kong people now should know more about the political reality that we face after 1997, especially since the Chinese Government has already made clear its policy. In the past few years it has already said that it would not recognise British Nationality received under BNSS. Say, after 1997, there is a Hong Kong person holding a British passport and presenting himself to a British Consulate in Hong Kong asking for consular protection and the Hong Kong Government then, or the Chinese Government then says that this is a Chinese National. So, would the British Consulate do nothing unless it is clarified whether this person has got dual nationality, or would assistance be given at the same time when the Hong Kong Government or Chinese Government are producing evidence proving the dual nationality?

Or, say, the Chinese Government or Hong Kong Government releases a very clear piece of legislation stipulating that all these people who received British Nationality under BNSS would be presumed or regarded legally as Chinese Nationals, then in that case would the British Consulate not do any investigation and simply regard them as indeed having dual nationality and would not afford them full consular protection? I would like to know what would the political reality be?

Governor: It is an important question and I am going to have to be slightly repetitive in answering it because we tend to be circling the same passports or the same passport issue. But let me just make one point by way of introduction because it has been, 1 think, mis-stated in one of this morning's newspapers. It was said in the otherwise admirable South China Morning Post this morning in its editorial: Both countries - that is Britain and China are agreed that Scheme passport holders are Chinese Nationals, as was made clear by both sides with reference to holders of British Dependent Territories Citizen and British National Overseas Documents in Memoranda attached to the Joint Declaration.

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Well, the second part of the statement is true. The first part of the statement is not true and could not conceivably be true since the British Nationality Scheme came into being seven years after the Joint Declaration. There is no agreement between Britain and China that Scheme passport holders are Chinese Nationals.

Let me make the point the other way round. What would China think if Britain said it was going to tell China who was a Chinese National? China would think that was the most monstrous impertinence. It would think it was an attack on Chinese national sovereignty. Nobody can tell Britain or the British Government who is a British citizen and who is not. That is a matter within our sovereign gift and we are not going to throw it away for anyone.