TNAG-1899-FCO40-2697-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-1989 — Page 181

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

(Portuguese residents in Macau can travel freely in EC: Why not holders of Hong Kong passports?)

The

- The analogy with Portugal and Macau is wholly inappropriate.

Portuguese and British Nationality Laws are entirely different.

constitutional positions of Hong Kong and Macau are also entirely

different. It is perfectly true that the British Nationality Act treats Hong Kong citizens differently from the way the Portuguese

treat the citizens of Macau. This is a long-standing difference of

practice, reflected in our different laws.

UK law is, as you know, the result of careful drafting,

consultation, parliamentary scrutiny and approval.

That it treats

Hong Kong citizens differently from those in Macau is a fact of

life. As you are probably aware, the numbers involved are of a

quite different order - 100,000 in Macau as opposed to three and half million in Hong Kong.

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