TNAG-0979-FCO40-1198-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1980 — Page 106

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retained as a link between UK belongers and colonial belongers (and probably for the third category of citizens - British Overseas

Citizens).

ARGUMENT THE FCO REQUIREMENT

4.

•

d

The FCO requirement is for a citizenship and title for colonial belongers which retains the confidence of the dependencies in the

However, for political reasons in the UK, where there is pressure for a separate citizenship for UK belongers, we propose to deny colonial belongers the shared citizenship with the UK which they have had up till now. Also, we have had to rule out a separate

citizenship for each territory which could cause problems with China,

Argentina, Spain and Guatemala. The dependencies, therefor, will

have to have imposed on them the uninspiring collective title 'Citizen of the British Dependent Territories' or something similar.

5. The problem with this title alone is that it lacks my

suggestion of close links with the UK. Retention of the term

'British Subject' as a common prefix would go a long way towards

meeting this.

from

They

6. In many of the dependencies, large and small, there is still

resentment at the withdrawal of the right of abode in the

colonial belongers in the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act. believe that this Act was not primarily aimed to prevent immigration by the belongers of existing dependencies and that the emphasis on

their separate status in the forthcoming Nationality Act is

unnecessary. Some dependencies, particularly Hong Kong, consider that any change in title will appear as a weakening of HNC's commitment to their territory.

The dependencies' first preference, for the

retention of 'Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies',

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is

/out