TNAG-1379-FCO40-1827-Future-of-Hong-Kong-legislation-Hong-Kong-Bill-1985 — Page 252

Mr PoweИ, HKD

UNCLASSIFIED

HKK 0402 Reference

никоор

SFEB 1,65

2

142

HONG KONG BILL

1.

ᄏ

I have the following comments on the draft letters to various Members of Parliament attached to your minute of

21 February.

Letter to Baroness Vickers

2. I suggest that the second paragraph might be replaced by the following

3.

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"On the timing of the issue of BN(O) passports I can only tell you that this is a matter the Government are looking into urgently but on which we have made no decision as yet. To be consistent with the terms of the UK memorandum BN(0) status must be acquired by 30 June 1997, except in respect of children born in the first half of 1997. That status will be acquired when an eligible person applies for the first time for a BN(O) passport. BDTC status will also remain up to 30 June 1997, and there will be a period during which an individual may hold both BDTC and BN(O) status. BN(O) passport holders will be able to renew their passports after 1997 in the usual way."

I have suggested this reformulation to take account of both the terms of the UK memorandum and the fact that the Home Office and the general public of Hong Kong may interpret differently the form of application concerning the new status. The Home Office will regard it as an application for registration as BN(O), the consequence of which will be the issue of a BN(O) passport. The public in Hong Kong may think of it in terms of an application for a passport which, incidentally, will result in their acquiring BN(0) status.

4. In the third paragraph of the same letter I suggest that the phrase "... the funding of colleges in Hong Kong should continue..." should read " ... the funding of colleges in Hong Kong should be able to continue.

5.

• •

In the last paragraph of the same letter I would replace the words "still belong to the British" by "be British".

Letter to Lord Beaumont of Whitley

6. To accord with the translation of the Chinese nationality law issued by the Xinhua domestic service I would amend the last sentence to read

"You will note that Article 4 states that any person born in China whose parents are Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national has Chinese nationality, and Article 5 states that, with certain exceptions, any person born abroad whose parents are Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national has Chinese nationality.

CODE 18-77

22 February 1985

7. Annows

F Burrows Legal Counsellor