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Mr. Hitte
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8001
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
- 2 MAY 1986
From The Minister of State DESK OFFICER
INDEX
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
REGISTRY
PA
Action Taken
London SW1A 2AH
28 April 1986
Jean
binstan
637
Your letter of April to Timothy Raison has been passed to me for reply.
It is not quite right to say that David Waddington "has conceded" that non-ethnic Chinese residents of Hong Kong will not be regarded by the Chinese as their nationals when the territory reverts to Chinese sovereignty. It is a matter of fact that under Chinese law only ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong are automatically Chinese nationals. This was made plain in the Chinese memorandum associated with the Joint Declaration. have already raised this subject with the Chinese Government in the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group and they have confirmed that non-Chinese who meet the legal requirements under Chinese Nationality Law can apply for Chinese nationality and that such cases will be dealt with by the appropriate authorities.
We
No one of course will be forced to apply for Chinese nationality. But I can assure you that no one who loses BDTC status as a result of the Sino-British Joint Declaration will be left stateless in 1997. Neither will their children or grandchildren born after 1997. The provisions we will make under the Nationality Order in Council shortly to be laid before the House will give all Hong Kong BDTCs the right to acquire the new status of British National (Overseas) and to retain this for life. If for any reason a Hong Kong BDTC does not acquire BN (0) status he will automatically become a British Overseas citizen on 1 July 1997 if he would otherwise be stateless.
These provisions guarantee British nationality for those who would otherwise be stateless for 2 generations born after 1 July 1997. Coupled with the right of abode guarantees that are written into the Joint Declaration, they give the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong and their descendants a recognised nationality until about the middle of the next century and a place to call their home. You will no doubt have seen the statement on the issue made by the Home Secretary on 23 April. In it he sets out the reasons why the Government believe these
Winston S Churchill Esq MP
House of Commons
LONDON SWLA OAA
639
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