TNAG-1565-FCO40-2130-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-passports-Hong-Kong-(Br-1986 — Page 105

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4 Contrary to what you suggest in your letter of 17 February, non-

ethnic Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong will have the

right of abode there as a matter of law. Paragraph 3(12) of the Joint Declaration provides that the basic policies of the People's Republic of China stated in the Joint Declaration and the elaboration of them in Annex 1 of the declaration (including the right of abode provisions in Section XIV) will be stipulated in a Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and will remain unchanged for 50 years.

S. Thus the nationality provisions of the Order and the right of

abode provisions in the Joint Declaration together guarantee a form of British nationality and a place to live as a matter of right until about the middle of the next century. Clearly it would not be sensible for me to attempt to judge what the position

will be by then. But the Government do not believe it would be

right to grant British nationality whether British citizenship

indefinitely to future generations

This would be contrary to the

or British Overseas citizenship

born outside the United Kingdom.

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principles underlying the British Nationality Act 1981. Our present view is that by the middle of the next century it would be right to expect those who will have been living in this region for so many years to apply for Chinese nationality. We would not expect the Chinese Government, any more than any other Government, give a firm guarantee that they will grant Chinese nationality

to anyone who applies for it. But we have discussed this with the Chinese Government in the Joint Liaison Group and they have confirmed that non-Chinese who meet the legal requirements under the Chinese nationality law may apply for Chinese nationality and that such cases would be dealt with by the appropriate authorities. We expect to have further exchanges about this with the Chinese Government in the future.

byour letter of 17 February also compared the situation in Hong

Kong with what happened when the United Kingdom relinquished

jurisdiction over other dependent territories on their independence. In such cases, people who did not become citizens of the newly independent country (and there were many who did not) retained their British nationality. Those who did not have close connections

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