Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
12
From The Minister of State
Sir,
HKD 301/1
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и
16 January 1989
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1211
Dr Jand
Your leader on Hong Kong (13 January) contains serious errors of fact and omission.
You noted that Ministers have discretion to allow civil and Crown servants in Dependent Territories such as Hong Kong to be registered as British citizens. When the relevant provision was inserted into the British Nationality Bill in 1981 it was made quite clear that citizenship would be granted only sparingly.
But you are wrong to allege that the Government have been unresponsive to the concerns of those in Hong Kong whom you describe as having special claims. The point was raised and answered as long ago as 10 December 1984 in the House of Lords debate on the draft Joint Declaration. In her closing speech Baroness Young, then Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, referred to a question from
Lord MacLehose about "providing a home and security for some of those who have served us well in Hong Kong and who might feel at risk". She said:
"I can assure the House that the Government have this point very much in mind. In certain limited cases certain rights of admission will exist at the discretion of the Home Secretary in the United Kingdom. They will be on a very limited basis for people who were exposed to special considerations and special factors".
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