}
CONFIDENTIAL
that the people of Hong Kong would expect no less. The Government accepted
the force of Hong Kong's argument, and propose therefore to meet their wishes.
13. The formalities going with the registration of citizenship will be kept
to a minimum. We envisage only that each person's particulars will be entered
on a central register. No separate fee will be charged for this. The detailed
arnangements will be worked out with Hong Kong between now and 1987, and it
will be necessary to make regulations to govern these in the normal way under
the British Nationality Act 1981.
14.
Article 6 sets out the Government's proposals for reducing statelessness.
This is a matter of considerable importance and understandable interest.
The Government has given the matter the most careful thought. During the
debates last year and during the passage of the Hong Kong Bill a number of
members were concerned that the British Dependent Territories citizen community
in Hong Kong who were not ethnically Chinese, and their children, might be
left stateless in 1997 because they would not be regarded as Chinese nationals.
The Government recognized that and gave a firm undertaking that no former
Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizen, nor any child born after
June 1997 to such a person, would remain stateless as a result of the agreement.
In response to further representations from a number of quarters, this undertaking
was extended during the Committee Stage of the Bill in another place to cover
the grandchildren of former Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizens
if they were born stateless.
15. Since then, further representations have been made by the non-ethnic
Chinese community in Hong Kong, with the support of a number of speakers during
the recent Legislative Council debate, who were not happy with the proposed
provisions.
16.
Our present proposals are set out in Article 6. It provides that any former Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizen who for any reason
has not acquired BN(0) status, and would otherwise be stateless in 1997, will
automatically become a British Overseas citizen on 1 July 1997. Any of their
children born after June 1997 if they would otherwise be stateless will also
acquire British Overseas citizenship at birth; and any of their grandchildren, if born stateless, will be entitled to be registered as British Overseas citizens.
These provisions apply to all whatever their ethnic origin but I know that they are of particular interest to the non-ethnic Chinese community in Hong Kong, who do not expect automatically to become Chinese citizens in 1997.
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