TNAG-2371-FCO40-3446-Hong-Kong-nationality-UK-passport-scheme-British-Nationalit-1991 — Page 37

22-JAN-1991 14:35

DIRECTOR OF ADM.

852 877 0802

P.18

1984]

NATIONALITY LAW OF THE PRC

child acquired ipso facto the adoptors' nationality.“

295

China recognizes that the decision to naturalize is not made by the minors themselves; therefore China allows minors the freedom to choose nationality upon reaching the age of majority. Past PRC treaty practice reveals a record of commitment to assuring free choice for children. In the Sino-Indonesian Treaty on Dual Nationality, minor children were given the right to freely choose between Indonesian or Chinese nationality, but had to exercise that right within a year after "coming of age." "This example was followed in the 1957 Sino- Mongolian Treaty." These treaties provide ideal models in the sense that the individuals involved were automatically accepted by the pre- ferred nation, and likewise abandoned by the rejected nation. Such an ideal, however, cannot be attained unilaterally.

The 1980 law provides that naturalized children, upon reaching adulthood, may independently acquire the nationality of their choice. If they choose their former nationality and are settled abroad, they will "automatically" lose their naturalized Chinese nationality. If they are not settled abroad, they must undergo formal denaturalization proce- dures and await approval from the Ministry of Public Security before discarding Chinese nationality.

One restriction on this freedom of choice is that another national- ity must be obtained before the naturalized Chinese nationality can be discarded. This restriction is reasonable because it ensures that natu-

tionality of the People's Republic of China and automatically loses the national- ity of the Republic of Indonesia.

Sino-Indonesian Treaty on Dual Nationality, Apr. 22, 1955, 1959 Zọnghua Renmin Congheguo Tiaoyuɛji (Collection of Treaties of the PRC) 12-17 (1960) (vol. VIII). For an English translation, see New China News Agency-English, Peking (Apr. 1955), in U.S. Consulate General (Hong Kong), Current Background No. 326, at 1-4 (Apr. 27, 1955), reprinted in J. COHEN & H. Cнiu, supra note 14, at 754-60.

53. See Ginsburgs, supra note 1, at 476-78.

54. Sino-Indonesian Treaty, supra note 52, art. VI, at 756, states:

All those persons who hold the two nationalities mentioned in Article I and who have not come of age when the present treaty comes into effect shall choose their nationality within a year of their coming of age. Pending their coming of age, they shall be considered as only holding the nationality chosen by their parents or their fathers in accordance with the provisions of the present treaty. 55. The Sino-Mongolian Treaty, see D. JoнNSTON & H. Chiu, AgreementS OF THE People's Republic of China 1947-1967: A Calander (1968), stipulates that the national- ity of children of a mixed marriage between a Chinese and a Mongolian would be jointly decided by the parents, and upon becoming 18 years old, the children would be free to choose either nationality. See H. Li, Guoji Wenti de Buiao Yangiu (A Comparative Study of Nationality Questions) 242 (1981).

56. Article 9 of the 1980 Nationality Law states: "Any Chinese national who has set- tled abroad and who has been naturalized there or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will automatically loses Chinese nationality."