TNAG-2160-FCO40-3080-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-Chinese-views-1990 — Page 43

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Legal Advisers

Date: 13 June 1990

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Mr Walker, Research Dept

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CHINESE REACTIONS TO BRITISH NATIONALITY BILL

1.

X143

Paragraphs 6 and 7 of your submission of 8 June refer to "Chinese counter measures threatened". I think I should enter a caveat to that label since a number of the items spelt out in paragraph 7 are a consequence of existing provisions of Chinese Nationality Law and of international law and practice. Taking the sub-paragraphs individually:

(a)

(b)

(c)

Article 3 of the Chinese Nationality Law already refuses to recognise dual nationality for any Chinese national. When that becomes the law of the SAR in accordance with Article 18 of the Basic Law, the law of the SAR will refuse to recognise that any person who has Chinese nationality ("any person born in China whose parents are Chinese nationals or one of whose parents is a Chinese national has Chinese nationality") has another nationality;

It is not unknown for conditions to be placed on renunciation of nationality. Under our own Nationality Act renunciation requires a declaration of renunciation in the prescribed manner. That only goes to form, and Chinese law is more rigorous as it goes to substance. However, we had been aware of this long before the nationality package was thought of and recognised that we might need to negotiate with the Chinese a variation of their existing law in order to accommodate Hong Kong Chinese who had taken British nationality;

As I have minuted on earlier occasions, and whatever the practice today, after 1997 we must be prepared, in accordance with general international law and practice, for the Chinese to refuse to accept any entitlement to consular protection of persons who they legitimately claim to be their own citizens even though the

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