TNAG-1080-FCO40-1330-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 99

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Position of Unofficials and Locally Recruited Civil Servants

3. The Governor is very concerned that senior local Civil Servants,

and now Unofficials, should be given an assurance that they would

not be excluded by the provisions of the Bill from acquisition of

British Citizenship if the Chinese took Hong Kong over. This is a

very delicate issue which has only been raised recently. Hong Kong

had hoped that Crown Service in Dependent Territory Governments

would qualify locally recruited civil servants for naturalisation

as British Citizens. This was never the intention. Only those who

are in Crown Service overseas under the Government of the United

Kingdom qualify for consideration on these grounds. (Copies of the

relevant clauses (4(1) and 40(1) of the Bill, and paragraph 1(3) of

the first Schedule) are attached.) There is a serious problem over

people whose work places them in exposed positions. But action to

amend the Bill may be very difficult. We are examining the proposal

and Mr Raison said, in winding up the debate on the Second Reading

of the Bill, that there would be an opportunity to look at the issue

in Committee.

Other Matters

4. There is also concern in Hong Kong on such matters as safe-

guarding the freedom of travel of CBDT's to third countries, the

format of passports and entry certificates, description of new

citizenship in passports and statelessness. However these are only

likely to be mentioned in passing since they are technical points

which are, with the exception of statelessness, outside the scope

of the Bill.

Hong Kong and General Department

30 January 1981

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