TNAG-2188-FCO40-3125-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 6

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TEXT OF CHINESE STATEMENT OF 30 DECEMBER (EMBASSY TRANSLATION)

"On December 20, the British Government unilaterally announced its decision to grant 50,000 households (225,000 people in all) of Hong Kong residents the status of full British citizenship with the right of abode in the United Kingdom.

The Chinese Government is totally surprised at this action of the British Government.

"This course of action by the British Government is a gross violation of its own solemn commitment. Agreement was reached on the issue of nationality of Hong Kong residents in the Sino-British talks on the question of Hong Kong five years ago, and the two sides also exchanged memoranda on this basis. The memorandum of the British side states in explicit terms that: "all persons who on 30 June 1997 are, by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong, British Dependant Territories Citizens (BDTCS) under the law in force in the United Kingdom will cease to be BDTCs with effect from 1 July 1997, but will be eligible to retain an appropriate status which, without conferring the right of abode in the United Kingdom, will entitle them to continue to use passports issued by the Government of the United Kingdom." The contents and the wording of the memorandum of the British side, like that of the Chinese side, were agreed upon between the two sides through negotiations.

"In recent weeks, the British side has on many Occasions stated that it will continue to abide by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and resume Sino-British

co-operation. But now the British side, in a volte-face, has unilaterally decided to grant full British citizenship to some Hong Kong residents in disregard of the relevant agreement reached between the British and Chinese sides. The British side has also declared that it will hold back a proportion of the allocations of the above-mentioned 50,000 households so as to "give opportunities for those who may move into key