TNAG-1081-FCO40-1331-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 234

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SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS,

HONG KONG: ATTITUDE TO NEW NATIONALITY

LEGISLATION

Po/Mr Blake

D/M Luce PS/POS

Chief Clerk

Mr Donal

Mr Adams

NTD

Legal Advizas

TOMY L

Thank you for your recent minute. I saw Sir S. Y. Chung

and Mr. Cheung on 6 February as planned.

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17/1

See (84)

It has been agreed that your Department will help work out in greater detail a contingent provision of the kind mentioned in paragraph 3 of your minute and then we can consider it further.

But I must say straight away that I see very great difficulty over what is suggested. In proposing to Parliament an amendment to the Bill of this kind we should have to explain that the pro- vision was intended to be brought into force - presumably by Order in Council - at any time in the future when Hong Kong was threatened by a Chinese takeover, and that in such an event we would give British nationality to certain Crown servants in Hong Kong so that they would have the right to come and live in the United Kingdom if the worst came to the worst. If we were asked how many Crown servants the Hong Kong Government had, we should, as I understand it, have to say 150,000. It may be that not all of of them would wish to come here, but many of them well might. I do not see how we could say we would draw the line at a handful. And I do not see what we could say about those who, though not Crown servants, have loyally supported the British connection and would find life under the Communists intolerable. With dependants, there is a mossive potential immigration commitment here, and our supporters would be extremely unhappy about accepting it.

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