TNAG-1405-FCO40-1880-Future-of-Hong-Kong-passports-and-visas-1985 — Page 200

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Article 12 of the Nationality Act of the PRC contains the

provision: "Members of the civil service and active members of the military forces may not renounce Chinese nationality". Section 176 of the Chinese Penal Code also states that "anyone

secretly crossing the national frontier in contravention of laws

and regulations governing departure from and entry into national territory will be punished in serious cases with imprisonment, detention or surveillance of up to one year". (Unlawful flight from the Republic).

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these regulations do not modify the terms of Article 9 of the Nationality Act of the PRC, which state that acquisition of a foreign nationality and permanent residence abroad automatically lead to the loss of Chinese nationality. The American Embassy

here in Peking considers it possible, on the other hand, that the PRC continues to regard the people mentioned in Article 12 of its

Nationality Act as Chinese despite acquisition of a foreign

nationality. But no concrete cases were known.

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