TNAG-2932-FCO40-4207-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-British-National-(Overseas)-1993 — Page 49

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CONFIDENTIAL

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file As / Mr Goodhad. Tor

I submit adhaff.

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May 1993

Charles Wardle Esq MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Home Office

Queen Anne's Gate

London SW1

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2 1 MA) 1993

HAD 20/5

HONG KONG:

NATIONALITY MATTERS

I wrote to you on 13 May about our proposed response to the Hong Kong Legislative Council on the question of passports for the ethnic minority. You may by now have heard that the LegCo delegation is planning to visit London in the week of 7 June. You may also have heard that the proposed phased programme for the registration of British Nationals (Overseas) (BNOS) is becoming controversial. I suspect

the delegation will raise this too.

After initially approving the idea of cut-off dates, the LegCo Nationality Committee have evidently got cold feet. They claim that the proposed Order in Council will:

(a)

(b)

Remove the "rights" of Hong Kong people to register as BNOS at any time up to 30 June 1997; and

That this is an administrative problem which does not require legal sanction but could be solved by:

Issuing a BNO passport which only became effective on 1 July 1997; or

Delaying the actual issue of BNO

passports until closer to 1 July 1997.

I gather that what lies behind their reluctance to see early cut-off dates is the wish of Hong Kong people to retain British Dependent Territories Citizen passports for as long as possible because they apparently believe BNO passports to be inferior. This being the case (and so far the Hong Kong Government's best efforts have failed to persuade them otherwise) I am told that the LegCo Nationality Committee would accept legally enforceable

CONFIDENTIAL