TNAG-1372-FCO40-1818-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 135

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CONFIDENTIAL

GRS 700

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 2220

OF 1809OOZ OCTOBER 85

INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING

VISIT OF MR. RENTON

BRIEFING TELEGRAM NO. 7 : NATIONALITY

215

COP COPY

нны 02716

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

2 1 OCT 1985

DESK OFFICEN

INDEX

PA

Actio : Taken.

LINE TO TAKE

NO PERSON WHO IS A BDTC ON 30 JUNE 1997 WILL BECOME STATELESS AS

A RESULT OF THE JOINT DECLARATION. IF NON-CHINESE BDTCS FAIL TO

BECOME BN (0)S AND HAVE NO OTHER NATIONALITY, THEY WILL BECOME BOCS:

SO WILL THEIR CHILDREN BORN AFTER 1 JULY 1997. THE IR GRANDCHILDREN

BORN AFTER 1 JULY 1997 WOULD HAVE AN ENTITLEMENT TO REGISTER AS

BOCS WITHIN TWELVE MONTHS OF THEIR BIRTH IF THEY WOULD OTHERWISE BE

STATELESS. THUS THERE WOULD BE PROVISIONS FOR BRITISH NATIONALITY

TO BE GRANTED TO THE DESCENDANTS OF NON-CHINESE HONG KONG BDTCS

UP TO THE MIDDLE OF THE NEXT CENTURY.

2. THE JOINT DECLARATION PROVIDES FOR ALL NON-CHINESE NATIONALS WHO

HAVE ORDINARILY RESIDED IN HONG KONG FOR 7 YEARS OR MORE AND HAVE

TAKEN HONG KONG AS THEIR PLACE OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE, OR WHO HAVE

THE RIGHT OF ABODE ONLY IN HONG KONG BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HONG KONG SAR, TO HAVE THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE HONG KONG SAR. THUS, THEY WOULD NOT BE LEFT WTHOUT A PLACE TO CALL THEIR HOME.

3. AS BN (0)S, THEY WILL HAVE BROADLY THE SAME BENEFITS AS BDTCS : RIGHT TO HOLD BRITISH PASSPORTS: CONSULAR PROTECTION BY BRITISH POSTS IN HONG KONG AND IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES: AND ELIGIBILITY TO

REGISTER AS BCS. THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR GRANTING

RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE UK AFTER 1997 TO HONG KONG BDTCS WHO DO NOT

NOW HAVE RIGHT OF ABODE IN UK.

BACKGROUND

4. THE DRAFT HONG KONG (BRITISH NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986 WAS

PUBLISHED ON 17 OCTOBER 1985 SIMULTANEOUSLY IN HONG KONG AND LONDON.

IT HAS AROUSED WIDESPREAD INTEREOT, AND WILL BE SUBJECT TO CAREFUL

SCRUTINY. THE MAIN POINT OF CONCERN IS THE AS YET UNPROVEN

ACCEPTABILITY OF 3N(0) PASSPORTS, PARTICULARLY SINCE THERE IS

CONTINUING UNCERTAINTY OVER THE WORDING OF THE RIGHT OF ABODE

ENDORSEMENT.

CONFIDENTIAL

15.

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