TNAG-2196-FCO40-3144-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 9

E.R.

HKD 3404

BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) (SELLECHIVED SCHEME) ORDER"

3 0 OCT 1990

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

PA

COMMONS DEBATE ON AFFIRMATIVE ORDER

1990:

Pa (860)

pa

Vastio

I beg to move that the British Nationality (Hong Kong) (Selection

Scheme) Order 1990, a draft of which was laid before this House

on 15 October, be approved. Subject to approval in this House

and in another place, the Order will come into force on 1

December.

The Order sets out the scheme which the Governor of Hong Kong

proposes to use to select up to 50,000 key people whom he will

recommend to the Secretary of State for registration as British

citizens under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990.

Mr Speaker, the selection scheme which the Governor has presented

to the Home Secretary and which is before this House for approval

tonight, is a complex one and represents months of detailed work

by Hong Kong and United Kingdom government officials. Comments

and suggestions have been received from a wide range of bodies

with interests in Hong Kong's continued prosperity and stability;

and, of course, both Houses examined outline proposals for the

scheme with great care during the passage of the British

Nationality (Hong Kong) Act.

During those discussions,

the Government made clear that it

intended to listen with an open mind to constructive criticism

of the scheme and suggestions for ways in which it might be

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