TNAG-1081-FCO40-1331-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 85

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5. The Home Secretary may also wish to remind the Governor that a major

concession` has already been made in response to Hong Kong wishes. The Green Paper

proposed that all who do not become British citizens should become British Overseas

citizens. The White Paper and the Bill propose that there should be three new citizenships, not two: i.e. the British Overseas citizenship of the Green Paper will be split into citizenship of the British Dependent Territories and British Overseas

citizenship. This has been done, as requested by Hong Kong, to give positive recognition in citizenship terms of the status of the dependencies.

6. In considering the new Hong Kong proposals Ministers will wish to take into account not only the merits of those proposals but the need to balance the difficulties of Hong Kong against the Government's own problems with regard to the Nationality Bill. Also, any likely repercussions on other dependent territories must be borne in mind. If in due course Ministers do decide that any further concessions to Hong Kong should be made they will wish to consider carefully the timing of any amendments to the Bill that might be necessary.

The specific proposals which may be raised by the Governor are as follows, with the problems which we see in them.

7.

8.

The main proposal, so far as we know, is that an amendment should be made in Schedule 1 enabling Crown Service in a dependency, or other service in a dependency of great benefit to the United Kingdom Government, to count as fulfilling the residential requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen in very special circumstances. This, we think, need not be ruled out in principle; but it would have to be presented as a recognition of the case in principle for recognising exceptionally meritorious service in a dependency. It would have to be said that such cases would be

likely to arise very rarely. The proposal would surely have serious repercussions, on Hong Kong in particular, if it were presented as a concession to senior officials in Hong Kong who wished to be assured of an escape route to this country in the event of a Chinese takeover. Its helpfulness in practice in Hong Kong, even if it were thought to be politically feasible, would therefore be extremely limited. But as a result of

Hong Kong lobbying, a number of Members of Parliament are aware that this would be the real reason for the proposal, and we could be by no means certain that this would not

leak out. What, the Home Secretary may wish to ask the Governor, would the effect then be on Hong Kong opinion, not least on the great majority of Crown Servants there who would not benefit from the concession? If the Government were then obliged to say that the discretion would after all be fairly liberally exercised, what effect would

COLUDELITIAL