TNAG-1083-FCO40-1333-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 4

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49 MAY 1981

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Mr. Jones, NTD

HONG KONG:

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BRIEFING MATERIAL FOR THE GOVERNOR prepare

-(254)

a dis agreed

submision

1. The personal telegram which Mr. Luce despatched on Friday promises the Governor further material with which to defend the government's position on nationality title if the Home Secretary turns down the request put by the Secretary of State. We shall then have to consider whether to advise Mr. Luce and Lord Carrington to put forward the fallback position (Ministerial statement plus passport entry formula). in any case, I do not think we should delay long in letting the Governor have the best bricks we can make, with or without straw. We rehearsed some ideas with the Chief Clerk on Friday and you said that you would look at these with the material in the suspended telegrams which you drafted recently.

But,

2. As I see it, the speaking note for the Governor might include the following elements:-

(i) At every stage (before and after issue of White Paper and before and after issue of Bil1) consultation with Hong Kong has been much more intensive than with any other interested party. Hong Kong leaders have seen Lord Carrington, Mr. Whitelaw and Mr. Raison, etc.

(ii)

13/5-

See (259A)

See (258A

LAST PAPER

It was specifically Hong Kong concern about the 2 category proposal in the Labour Government's Green Paper which led to the creation of the Dependent Territory status to mark the fact that the Dependent Territories in general and Hong Kong in particular are much closer to the UK than the BOT category.

(iii) CBDT status has been defended by Ministers

vigorously in the House, often against Parliamentary criticism that this category was created only to please Hong Kong.

(iv). The new Bill thus defines three categories of

citizenship and these coincide generally with the immigration status of (a) those at present living in the UK; (b) those living in Dependent Territories and (c) those living in other, mainly independent Commonwealth countries.

(v)

The present immigration status of Hong Kong citizens is not affected by the Bill and it is right that the title of their citizenship, namely 'Citizen of the British Dependent Territories', qualified if wished

CONFIDENTIAL

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