TNAG-1372-FCO40-1818-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 251

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B

would retain a form

of

British

generation which would not be

transmissible

nationality for one

to their

children. The Hong Kong Act enables US to legislate

to implement this Memorandum and to create a new

nationality status

British National

known

as

(Overseas) through an Order in Council. This Order in Council has now been drafted and will be introduced to

Parliament by the Home Secretary in early December. We have agreed in the face of Parliamentary pressure

that the Order should first be debated with "green

edges", withdrawn to take account of comments and

reintroduced for debate in the usual way under

affirmative resolution procedures. I attach a draft

of the White Paper introducing the Order in Council.

11. Related to the introduction of the new status we

will need to provide for the issue of new British National (Overseas) passports from 1987. We need to

agree with the Chinese a form of words to be inserted in these passports that will indicate that the holder has the right of abode in Hong Kong and after 1997 in

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

12.

No issue is more sensitive

sensitive in Hong Kong than the

issue of nationality. HMG i s regarded with deep

suspicision, mostly arising out of the BNA 1981.

It

i s too much to hope that we shall redeem ourselves,

but we need to tread carefully.

Garrison

13.

The OD (K) commitee has agreed to a proposal

a proposal from

Hong Kong that the planned construction of a new barracks at Kohima should not go ahead, and that the

garrison should be reduced from five to four battalions in 1987. We are studying with the MOD the

longer term future of the garrison and whether it

should be partially replaced before 1997 by an internal defence force or a strengthened police force. This issue is potentially sensitive in Hong Kong.

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