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10. On your concerns about being possibly drafted into the People's Liberation Army, there is no law of conscription in Hong Kong and Article 18 of the draft Basic Law does not enable the Chinese to exercise the power of conscription in Hong Kong.
11.
On the nationality question you raise, under Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the non-British spouse of a British citizen may be naturalised as a British citizen if he or she has been resident in the United Kingdom for 3 years up to the date of the application. However the Home Secretary may waive the need to fulfil this requirement if on the date of application the person to whom the applicant is married is serving abroad in Crown Service or is in Service designated by the Home Secretary as being closely identified with the overseas activities of Her Majesty's Government. All eligible officials in the Government of a Dependent Territory, which includes those members of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force who are British citizens and whose recruitment took place in the United Kingdom, are covered by the British Citizenship (Designated. Service) Order 1982 and will, therefore, benefit from the appropriate provisions in the 1981 Nationality Act.
12. On the question of consular protection the position is that anyone who is granted full British citizenship will enjoy all the benefits that this status confers. This includes the right to British consular protection throughout the world, except in the case of dual nationals in the country of their second nationality. It is standard international practice that dual nationals cannot claim protection from the authorities of one of their countries of nationality when they are in the territory of the other. [The Chinese nationality law does not recognise dual nationality. It follows that anyone in Hong Kong who takes full British citizenship should not be denied British consular protection in Hong Kong for dual nationality reasons. Chinese wives who have full British citizenship will therefore enjoy consular protection]
13. The Hong Kong Government intends to introduce amendments to the Hong Kong Immigration Ordinance to grant the right of abode to non Chinese nationals as as practicable. However it is not yet possible to indicate specific timing for the introduction of the legislation required.
soon
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