TNAG-1755-FCO40-2475-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1988 — Page 130

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would be highly divisive in Hong Kong.

Any Hong Kong resident can of course settle in Britain provided he satisfies the relevant immigration rules.

1.

British citizenship for ethnic minorities

There are about 11,500 ethnic minority BDTCS in Hong Kong, who have no other nationality, and about 60,000 who could apply for BDTC status. The Government do not think it would be right to

create such a large and uncertain immigration commitment after 1997.

We have fully met undertakings we gave during passage of the Hong

Kong Act, that no former BDTC, nor any children born after 30 June

1997 to such a person, would become stateless as a result of the

Joint Declaration.

Of course we recognise that there is some continuing concern among the ethnic minority BDTCs in Hong Kong. That is why I am

happy to repeat our assurance that we should consider it an

obligation upon any future government to treat with very

considerable and particular sympathy the case for admission to the

UK of any individual British national who, against all our

expectations, came under pressure to leave Hong Kong. This is a

very clear assurance to the members of the minority community in

Hong Kong.

8. Acceptance of BN(0) passports by third countries

The Government recognise that this has been a continuing major

concern in Hong Kong and in the House. In accordance with the

undertaking which we gave during the debates on the Hong Kong

Nationality Order in Council in 1986, we mounted a major worldwide

diplomatic exercise before the introduction of the passport on 1 July 1987 to explain the new status and passport to third countries.

We are confident that this exercise has success fully clarified the

issue to third countries.

The passport has now been in circulation for nearly a year.

22,000 people are already travelling on it without encountering

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