A
CONFIDENTIAL
Royal Air Force, and other branches of the armed services, have now amended their application procedure rules to include HMOCS members who are police officers in Hong Kong. However, there are significant numbers of other HMGCS officers serving the Hong Kong Government in other capacities: for example in the administrative service, the public works departments, the Judiciary and Legal Departments. All these HMOCS officers are in exactly the same position as police officers. All their records should be easily obtainable from the Hong Kong Government. If necessary it should be relatively easy to seek further details about them: either from the Hong Kong Government direct or through the MOD's forces stationed in Hong Kong.
3. We therefore propose that the Residency Rule should be amended to make candidates whose parents are British citizens and one of whom is an HMOCS member serving in Hong Kong, eligible for a waiver.
Consideration of applications post-1997
4. In April 1990, after a visit to Hong Kong and after consultation with the Home Office, Mr Francis Maude, then Minister of State with responsibility for Hong Kong, wrote to representatives of the police force in Hong Kong stating
that:
"The British Government would not consider service in the
Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong as constituting service with a communist government. You would not therefore be barred from taking up Crown appointments on such grounds."
5.
However the question of HMOCS officers who decide to stay on after 1997 being able to get security clearance for positions in Crown service in the UK whether for themselves or their children has recently surfaced again. Following correspondence between the Foreign Secretary and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, we have recently opened consultations with HMOCS officers about the arrangements we intend to make for them to recognise the change of sovereignty in 1997. Our policy is to encourage HMOCS officers to continue in service after 1997. I attach a copy of our opening statement where I have highlighted the relevant passages. We need to ensure that other aspects of policy towards such officers squares with our aim to persuade them to stay in Hong Kong. HMG has long recognised its "special responsibilities" towards HMOCS officers in general (White Papers of 1954 and 1960). Many HMOCS officers, particularly in the police force in Hong Kong, wish to ensure that they or their children continue to have access to recruitment to the armed services/police in the UK.
Clearly service in the Hong Kong Government after 1997 cannot count as "Crown Service". However we consider that
6.
ALKADG
CONFIDENTIAL
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