9425
PS/Mr Marten (ODA)
NOMENCLATURE IN HONG KONG PASSPORTS
HKK 3401
off
RECEIVED HA REGRE NO. 51 -4 JAN 1983
MATISTRY
DFSK OFFICER
INDEX
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PROBLEM
1.
To follow up a conversation Mr Marten had with
81 Miss Maria Tam, member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong,
277
during the Commonwealth Parliamentary Assocition Conference
in Nassau this October.
RECOMMENDATION
2.
I recommend that Mr Marten write to Miss Tam on the
lines of the attached draft.
BACKGROUND
3.
During a debate on human rights, Miss Tam attacked
the British Nationality Act 1981 and in particular the fact
that Hong Kong citizens would be described on their passports
as 'British Dependent Territories Citizens'. She said that
they would prefer a description such as 'British Nationals with
right of abode in Hong Kong'. This, she argued, would entitle
them to the protection of the British Government when travelling
abroad. Mr Marten spoke to Miss Tam about this, and undertook
to look into the points she had raised. Miss Tam stressed that
Hong Kong were not asking for the right of abode in the United
Kingdom.
4.
Following the Prime Minister's visit to Hong Kong in
September, the question of nomenclature in passports has been
carefully considered by the Secretary of State and the Home
Secretary. They recommended, and the Prime Minister agreed, that
the word 'British' should be inserted opposite the printed words
'national status' in the passports of all British Dependent
/Territories
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