22-JAN-1991 14:58
DIRECTOR OF ADM.
852 877 0802
P.47
324
NYL. Sch. J. INT'L & Cour. Î.
[VOL 5
would be reasonable to assume that the principles outlined in the memoranda exchanged between China and Great Britain will be fol- lowed with respect to the inhabitants of Macao.207
CONCLUSION
Thirty years after the PRC's establishment, the uncertainty sur- rounding its nationality problem has been essentially resolved in the Nationality Law of 1980. This law has had an enormous impact on the one billion people of mainland China. Its numerous implications affect the twenty million overseas Chinese settled in Southeast Asia, and eventually it will influence the future status of the more than five mil- lion ethnic Chinese of Hong Kong and Macao. Because of the broad repercussions of the Nationality Law on foreign relations as well as do- mestic affairs, its drafting was of major international interest.
Although to date the PRC has fashioned a modest record in at- taining human rights goals and is not known for its sophistication in modern lawmaking, the new Nationality Law seems unconventionally progressive. The provisions of the law and the PRC's previous diplo- matic efforts in nationality matters have not explicitly referred to the. protection of human rights, but it is clear that both vehicles have been implicitly guided by references to important human rights principles. These principles include respect for equality of both sexes and all races, reverence for free will and voluntary choice, concern for the ac- tual quality of life for expatriates residing in a foreign state and reduc- tion of dual nationality and statelessness.
In its composition, the law appears to have been carefully deliber- ated and skillfully composed. It covers almost all foreseeable contin- gencies in nationality questions that China may encounter in the next fifty years and beyond, such as conscientiously designed solutions to the problems of dual nationality of overseas Chinese and the future. status of the inhabitants of Hong Kong and Macao. In its form and structure, the law may be criticized for vagueness and incompleteness by Western lawyers who in their meticulous legal environment may consider the law devoid of detailed rules and procedural regulations. Moreover, the broad scope of discretionary power given to China's public security agencies in the administration of the law may also cause uneasiness to some outsiders. These characteristics, however, are not uncommon to both China's traditional and current socialist legal
157. A statement by Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian during a recent visit to Portugal supports the inference that the nationality issue between China and Portugal over Macao will be handled similarly to the Hong Kong agreements with Great Britain. See Shing Tao Daily News, Nov. 20, 1984, at 7, col. 1 (N. Am. ed.).
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