TNAG-2912-FCO40-4187-International-support-from-Asia-regarding-the-future-of-Hong-1993 — Page 38

CONFIDENTIAL

SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT TO INDIA: 15-16 NOVEMBER 1993

BACKGROUND

Talks with China on Hong Kong

1. Negotiations with China on the 1994/95 election arrangements began in April. Since then we have held 15 Rounds of talks.

Round 16 is due 19-20 November.

Ethnic Minorities

2. The Indian Government has in the past raised with us their concern about the position of the Indian community in Hong Kong after 1997. The last time this was discussed was in April during Sir John Coles' talks with his opposite number,

Mr Srinivasan. (For their part, the Indian Authorities have made no special arrangements for Hong Kong's ethnic Indians).

3. Hong Kong's Legislative Council have been pressing the case for British citizenship for those Hong Kong citizens who have solely British nationality and are of non-Chinese descent, most of whom are of Indian descent. (They are believed to number 2000 families.) LegCo registered their concerns with Mr Goodlad when he visited Hong Kong in October.

4.

The Home Secretary told a LegCo delegation in June that he had no intention of introducing new legislation to grant British citizenship to this community. The Government maintained this position when the status of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong was debated in Parliament in July during the passage of two Hong Kong related Orders in Council.

5. The Lords voted (on 15 July) for a motion calling upon HMG to give "full nationality to members of the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong". In a reply to a written Parliamentary Question by Graham Allen MP on 25 July the Home Secretary again said that he had no plans to introduce new legislation to provide citizenship for this group. He repeated the Government's assurance to the ethnic minorities.

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CONFIDENTIAL

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