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RECEIVED
REGISTRY
2 8 FEB 1986
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Action Taken
PS/Mr Renton
CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: A C GALSWORTHY, HKD
DATE:
19 February 1986
п.
19/2/15
100
Mr. Davell
le
me Galogarthy.
Thank you.
Avermaents
24/2
HONG KONG AGREEMENT: NATIONALITY
1. Mr Renton enquired on the attached copy of FCO telno 291 to Hong Kong about the significance of the figures
therein.
In
2. The figures arise from the meeting held between Hong Kong Government officials and Home Office two weeks ago. this it emerged that
that while the ethnic
ethnic minority BDTCs at
present numbered some 11,000, there were up to 65,000 non-Chinese nationals of other states at present permanently resident in Hong Kong. These people would probably be entitled to apply for BDTC status if they chose by virtue of residence in Hong Kong. If the decision were taken to extend British citizenship to the ethnic minorities there is thus a danger that these people could bring themselves within the fence in such a way as to turn them into British citizens in 1997. This telegram is part of an effort to out sort who exactly these 65,000 people are. It appears that some of them at least are already British citizens.
3.
If we were to decide to make the ethnic minorities
British citizens in 1997, one way of dealing with this problem would be to cast the law in such a way that it would refer only to those who were BDTCs now, cutting out anybody who from the date of the legislation onwards voluntarily
CONFIDENTIAL
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