TNAG-2194-FCO40-3131-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 214

Mr Morris, HKD

CONFIDENTIAL

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From:

Paul Fifoot

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Legal Advisers

Date: 28 March 1990

CC Mr McLaren

Mr Paul, HKD

Mr, Whomersley

34074

RECEIVED ON REGISTRY

2 5 MAY 1990

DEST OFFICER INDEX

REGISTRY

PA

Action Taken

UK NATIONALITY PACKAGE

Legislation

1.

The Home Secretary's minute to the Prime Minister raised a number of questions, the only one which concerns me being the retention or otherwise of Clause 2 (2) of the Bill. In this connection I should say that the Home Secretary's letter contains an error, which you have no doubt spotted: namely, in line 5 on page 2 the word "If" should be "Unless".

The

2. In our response, we should not deal with the legal point which has been put to the Attorney General. We should concentrate on the practical and presentational point. position is this. It is, I believe, common ground between Home Office and FCO advisers that, under the British Nationality Act, the fact that a BDTC becomes a British citizen does not deprive him of his separate status as a BDTC. That being the case, even though a BDTC obtained British citizenship under the Nationality Package, he would remain a person who is referred to in paragraph (a) of the United Kingdom Memorandum, ie a person who on 30 June 1997 is by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong a BDTC. The Chinese would therefore be in a position to argue that they have been, at least, misled by our statement in the Memorandum as to what would happen to those people. What we had said would be that they would have a particular status which would not confer a right of abode whereas those of them who had in the meantime acquired British nationality had a status which would confer a right of abode. It would assist us therefore in discussions with the Chinese if we could say (a) that persons who benefited from the British Nationality Package were in no wise covered by the specific terms of the UK Memorandum since they were not persons who on 30 June 1997 were BDTCs; and (b) the paragraph says nothing about our right to confer British nationality on BDTCS, or anyone else with a connection with Hong Kong, in the period before 1997. But to say (a) it is necessary that Clause 2 (2) remains in the Bill.

DMEAAO

CONFIDENTIAL