TNAG-1557-FCO40-2121-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-passports-Hong-Kong-(Br-1986 — Page 66

CONFIDENTIAL

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Private Secretary

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14 JAN 1986

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From: P J Westmacott Date: 8 January 1986

CC:

PS/Lady Young

Sir William Harding Mr Barrington

Mr Galsworthy, HKD Dr Wilson, o/r

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1131

HONG KONG: NATIONALITY ORDER IN COUNCIL

1. In the light of Mr Culshaw's minute of 8 January, the Secretary of State may find it helpful to have a note of Mr Renton's meeting with Mr Waddington this evening.

2.

On tactics, Mr Waddington agreed that his line at the Debate on the Order in Council on 16 January should be one of listening carefully to Colleagues' views, registering the strength of feeling expressed in Miss Dunn's and Mr Harilela's round robin letters, but offering no answers at this stage to the particular requests they have made.

3. On the substance, Mr Waddington was sympathetic to the Governor's, and the FCO's, predicament, but unable to be very forthcoming, at this stage, on any of the following key points:

He

(a) Request for passport endorsement for BN (0)s. Mr Waddington saw particular difficulty in the idea of tying future governments to a

to a no visa and no entry certificate commitment, as Hong Kong have requested. could not therefore go along with EXCO's latest wording: "The holder of this passport does not require an entry: certificate or a visa to enter the UK as a bona fide visitor". It was left that Home Office and FCO officials would give further thought to forms of wording which would go some way towards giving Hong Kong what it wanted.

(b)

Full British citizenship for non-Chinese BDTCs. Mr Renton and Mr Waddington agreed that the argumentation of the "Indians" was illogical. In other words, they based their case on the need for British citizenship in case they found themselves subsequently stateless, while knowing full well that British citizenship would

CONFIDENTIAL