TNAG-0660-FCO40-809-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1977 — Page 226

Mr M: .ton

Reference.

KKK JYOU

Le minute to du. Owl de. Mikkell

NATIONALITY REVIEW

Dru

itle.

1.

I see from the float that you wrote to Mr Orr, FED, on 25 December 1976 in which you stated that you were not happy about the statement that "most (or the 2,600,000) would probably be accepted by the Chinese Government as their nationals. Whilst there may not have been any statement to this effect by the Chinese Government, my understanding has always been that Peking until recently at any rate had always taken the view that any Chinese was automatically entitled to Chinese citizenship. I

think this was the philosophy underlying their acceptance of the thousands of Chinese refugees from Indonesia in 1966/67. In recent times members or the Communist Government have made statements to the effect that Overseas Chinese shoula consider themselves as citizens or the country in which they awell but presumably in the event of a pogrom on the lines or the Indonesian one then China would accept such refugees.

2.

The Nationalist Government in Taiwan has always taken the view that all Chinese are entitled to citizenship in the Republic of China and I think this stems from the same basic philosophy of Peking. Members of the Celestial Kingdom have a permanent right to return to it.

Yenth

T Durry

Hong Kong Department

7 January 1977

RATED IN

REGISTRY NO. 51 20 APR 1977