UNCLASSIFIED
FM PEKING
TO DESKBY 28050OZ F C O
TELNO 1092
OF 280346Z JULY 90
UNCLASSIFIED
HKC340
3 0 JUL 1990
159)
010415 MDHIAN 0531
TOP COPY Q DIST?
INFO DESKBY 28050OZ HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, BTC HONG KONG
FCO FOR RESIDENT CLERK AND DUTY OFFICER, NEWS DEPARTMENT.
HONG KONG FOR GOVERNOR/POLAD.
MIPT : WRITTEN ANSWER.
BEGINS:
ANSWER BY SPOKESMAN OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO A QUESTION RAISED BY CORRESPONDENTS ON THE ADOPTION BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT OF THE BRITISH NATIONALITY CHONG KONG) ACT 1990.
RECENTLY, THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT ADOPTED THE BRITISH NATIONALITY CHONG KONG) ACT 1990, UNILATERALLY CHANGING THE NATIONALITY OF A NUMBER OF HONG KONG CHINESE CITIZENS. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT CANNOT BUT EXPRESS REGRET OVER THIS.
AS IS KNOWN TO ALL, THE NATIONALITY OF THE HONG KONG CHINESE COMPATRIOTS IS A MATTER THAT FALLS ONLY WITHIN CHINA'S SOVEREIGNTY WHETHER ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL LAW OR TO THE NATIONALITY LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. ON THIS QUESTION, THE CHINESE AND BRITISH SIDES HAD LONG REACHED A COMMON UNDERSTANDING IN THEIR NEGOTIATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF HONG KONG AND, ON THAT BASIS, EXCHANGED MEMORANDA WITH EACH OTHER. THE CHINESE SIDE IN ITS MEMORANDUM POINTS OUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS THAT UNDER THE NATIONALITY LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, ALL HONG KONG CHINESE COMPATRIOTS, WHETHER THEY ARE HOLDERS OF THE ''BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES CITIZENS' PASSPORT'' (BDTCS) OR NOT, ARE CHINESE NATIONALS. THE BRITISH SIDE IN ITS MEMORANDUM CLEARLY UNDERTAKES NOT TO CONFER ON THE PERSONS WHO WERE FORMERLY BDTCS THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. FOLLOWING THAT, IN ORDER TO HONOUR THE BRITISH COMMITMENT, THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT ENACTED THE HONG KONG ACT 1985 AND PROMULGATED THE HONG KONG (BRITISH NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986. HOWEVER, ONLY A FEW YEARS AFTER THAT, THE BRITISH SIDE SHOULD HAVE GONE SO FAR AS TO PUBLICLY BREAK ITS SOLEMN
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