4.
B
3.
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(a) that the Home
Office
we re
n ow
concerned about the delay in
becoming
resubmission of
the Order, and felt that we must present i t
to Parliament very soon after the Easter
recess; and
but
(b) that the Home Office were now firmly wedded
to insisting on "current" in the endorsement,
might look again at the question of
British citizenship for non-ethnic Chinese if
the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary argued
strongly and convincingly that, in order to
keep the situation in Hong
control, HMG must agree to two
of the LegCo requests.
The
Kong under
out of three
Governor has already consulted Ex Co
endorsement formula
formula including "current": their
about the
response was
I
negative, but not apparently unanimously so.
my self
believe that Hong Kong opinion will attach more importance
to the passport endorsement, despite the fact that it gains
them nothing substantive in terms of entry to the UK,
simply because it affects
mo re people (all prospective
BN (O) passport holders) and has become an emotional issue.
The non-ethnic Chinese are a small minority, whose cause
the majority have espoused as a gesture of goodwill. But I
think we should consult the Governor again about this.
4.
letter,
I
recommend that, when we see the Home Secretary's
the department should consult the Governor again
about whether an endorsement including "current" might,
even wi th difficulty, be acceptable in Hong Kong,
agreement to allow World
and
War
I I
in the UK would reduce the present
satisfactory extent; and whether, the endorsement or British citizenship Chinese would be equally effective
if
in
whether that and an
ex-servicemen to settle
political unease to a
it came to a choice,
for the non-ethnic
this respect.
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