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CONFIDENTIAL
6. THE UK GOVERNMENT WILL THUS BE ABLE TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF ANY POINTS
MADE ON THE WHITE PAPER BEFORE FORMALLY LAYING THE ORDER BEFORE
PARLIAMENT FOR APPROVAL NEXT YEAR. ANY AMENDMENTS WILL, OF COURSE,
NEED TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION AND THE UK
MEMORANDUM, AND WITH THE HONG KONG ACT 1985, WHICH WAS PASSED BY
PARLIAMENT IN APRIL THIS YEAR.
SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION
7. THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION, SIGNED BY THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE UK AND CHINA ON 19 DECEMBER 1984, MADE PROVISION FOR THE
RESTORATION OF HONG KONG TO THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON 1 JULY
1997.
8. THE JOINT DECLARATION WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AN EXCHANGE OF MEMORANDA
BETWEEN THE UK AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS CONCERNING THE STATUS AFTER
30 JUNE 1997 OF BDTCS BY VIRTUE OF A CONNECTION WITH HONG KONG AND
RELATED ISSUES.
9. THE SCHEDULE TO THE HONG KONG ACT 1985 PROVIDES FOR THE MAKING OF
AN ORDER IN COUNCIL TO IMPLEMENT THE NATIONALITY PROVISIONS IN THE
UK MEMORANDUM ASSOCIATED WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION, SUBJECT TO
PARLIAMENT'S POSITIVE APPROVAL UNDER THE AFFIRMATIVE RESOLUTION
PROCEDURE. THE SCHEDULE TO THE HONG KONG ACT 1985 SETS UP THE
FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH THE ORDER WILL FIT THE TEXT OF THE HONG
KONG ACT 1985 WILL BE GAZETTED TOMORROW (FRIDAY) AND WILL BE
AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALES CENTRE.
NATIONALITY PROVISIONS
10. THE ESSENCE OF THE NATIONALITY PROVISIONS OF THE DRAFT ORDER IS
THAT BDTCS BY VIRTUE OF A CONNECTION WITH HONG KONG, WILL NO LONGER
HAVE THAT STATUS FROM 1 JULY 1997, SINCE HONG KONG WILL NO LONGER BE
A DEPENDENT TERRITORY AS FROM THAT DATE. BUT THEY WILL BE ENTITLED TO ACQUIRE A NEW NATIONALITY STATUS, THAT OF BRITISH NATIONAL (OVERSEAS) (BN(0)), TOGETHER WITH BRITISH PASSPORTS RECORDING THAT STATUS, AND
TO RETAIN IT FOR LIFE.
11. EXCEPT FOR CHILDREN BORN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1997 WHO MAY APPLY FOR BN(0) PASSPORTS UP TO 31 DECEMBER 1997, BN(0) STATUS MAY NOT BE ACQUIRED AFTER 30 JUNE 1997, NOR TRANSMITTED TO ANY FUTURE GENERATI- ONS. AND, LIKE BDTC STATUS, IT WILL NOT CARRY WITH IN THE RIGHT OF
ABODE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
12. THE ARRANGEMENTS WILL APPLY ONLY TO PEOPLE WHO ARE BDTCS BECAUSE OF THEIR CONNECTION WITH HONG KONG. ALL BUT ABOUT A FEW THOUSANDS OF THE ROUGHLY THREE AND A QUARTER MILLION BDTCS IN HONG KONG ARE BDTCS BY BIRTH, NATURALISATION OR REGISTRATION THERE. BUT THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE WAYS IN WHICH THE REMAINDER MAY HAVE ACQUIRED THEIR CITIZENSHIP STATUS THROUGH A CONNECTION WITH HONG KONG. TO HELP
THOSE WHO MIGHT BE AFFECTED ANNEX 2 OF THE WHITE PAPER LISTS THE
POSSIBILITIES. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO FORM PART OF THE DRAFT ORDER.
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CONFIDENTIAI
STATELESSNESY
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