DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)
acquired by former Hong Kong BDTCs only if they obtaina
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION |British passport before 1 July 1997. The Government
Top Secret
Secret
Confidential
launched a diplomatic campaign to secure worldwide
recognition of the new document as a fully valid British passport. No country has said that it would not recognise the new BN (0) pasport.
Restricted
Unclassified
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
51.
The position of the Chinese Government as stated in the Chinese Memorandum is that all Hong Kong Chinese are Chinese nationals. But the Memorandum indicates that those Chinese nationals who hold British travel documents may continue to use them after 30 June 1997. (Such persons will not of course be entitled to British consular protection in the Hong Kong SAR or in other parts of China.)
52.
Neither the BDTC passport nor the BN (0) passport confers upon the holder the right of abode in the United Kingdon (although he is entitled to enter this country without a visa for visits of up to three months). This position is enshrined in the British Nationality act of 1981, which in turn is based on earlier immigration law (the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and the Immigration Act 1971). It is therefore not a new phenomenon, but one which dates back over 25 years, well before the signing of the Joint Declaration.
53.
The present situation is one which is accepted by most Hong Kong people. It is well understood in the
territory that any change in their status would require a
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