TNAG-1849-FCO40-2624-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 42

24 MAY '89 28:23

FROM COI TECH RADIO

TRANSCRIPT J: SELECT COMMITTEE RB HONG KONG 24 MAY 1989

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PAGE.005/056

CHAIRMAN:

We will leave the issue there for the moment but it

is one which, again, we should also like to return to, and

ΠΟΤΕ on to the actual nature of the citizenship conferred

by the British National (Overseas) Passport.

Canavan would like to start some questions at this point.

I think Kr.

MR. DENNIS CARAVAN :

but

In a memorandum to the Sino-British Declaration, the

British Government stated that Hong Kong BDTCs would be

"eligible to retain an appropriate status" after 1997,

since the creation of BNO status on 1 July 1987 only 18

percent of applications for Hong Kong British passports

have been for BNO passports.

Kr. Swaip told the Committee that the BNO status is

not a meaningful citizenship and the figure of 18 percent

would suggest that this is the majority view in Hong Kong.

How would you answer that?

MR. TIM RENTON :

I read Mr. Swain's evidence on this, Kr.Canavan,

and

it was, of course, very much a point that was made to me

when I was in Hong Kong in 1985-86. I have to say that

we think it groundless that the BNO status is simply

successor status to BDTC for those Hong Kong BDTCs who

choose to take it up before July 1997.

It carries the