TNAG-1031-FCO40-1281-Visits-by-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-th-1981 — Page 86

CONFIDENTIAL

SECRETARY OF STATE'S MEETING WITH THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG:

10 MARCH

NATIONALITY BILL

POINTS TO MAKE

Introduction

1. Saw Sir S Y Chung and Mr O V Cheung beginning last month.

Understand their anxieties have greatly increased since then.

What is minimum necessary to satisfy Unofficials and what will

happen if cannot give it?

Present Position

2. Have much sympathy for Unofficials' concern. Regret that

Unofficials' more excessive demands, ie British Citizenship,

are, as you know, just not on. Cannot see how can convince

Home Secretary on this, because of the main object of the Bill,

Cannot over-emphasise political difficulties he faces. Hope

Unofficials can be made to understand position but realise not easy.

Possible Concessions

3. Own, strictly personal, view, for your own personal

information only, is that we should go for registration (ie not

naturalisation) for CBDTS who have been here for 5 years; that

is, maintain present position; that we should make some form of

legal provision allowing discretion for very limited number of

Crown Servants (including Unofficials); and that Crown Service

in a dependency should count towards residential period for

acquiring British Citizenship if people gain unconditional entry

to the United Kingdom.

CONFIDENTIAL

/Separate