TNAG-2940-FCO40-4216-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-ethnic-minorities-1993 — Page 92

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2214

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

J

10 March 1993

香港立法局

一九九三年三月十日

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Mr President, since the number of people involved are so smali only 7 000. we call on the British Government to be magnanimous and offer a separate arrangement for them.

Such a request was endorsed by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee's Second Report on Hong Kong which was published in June 1989. The Foreign Affairs Committee rejected the British Government's undertaking that "in the unlikely event of any British national-being forced to leave Hong Kong and having nowhere to go, we have made it clear that we would expect the Government of the day to consider sympathetically whether to admit such peopie on a case-by-case hasis in the light of particular circumstances

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The Foreign Affairs Committee said that was insufficient assurance and that the British Government has an obligation to provide proper citizenship (that is, British citizenship) to this group of people.

Although the Hong Kong Government supported the ethnic minorities' case in 1986, it now argues that there is no reason to distinguish between. the ethnic minorities and the majority of the population. Mr President, is there really no distinction between the two groups?

The Government only has to look at its own identity card scheme, which gives the three-star designation to ethnic Chinese residents to indicate their Chinese origin and, of course, to enable ease of travel into China. The ethnic minorities do not have this designation.

Furthermore, it is stipulated in the Basic Law that the non-Chinese nationals in Hong Kong are prohibited from becoming Chief Executive or filling senior civil service positions in the post-1997 SAR government.

Mr President, the Government may then argue that the ethnic minorities could apply for Chinese citizenship after 1997. In January, members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce discussed the matter with the State Council's Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Mr Li Ping, when they visited Peking. Mr LU said the ethnic minorities could apply for Chinese citizenship after 1997. However as we all know there is no guarantee that their applications would be successful. Members of the Indian Community rightly feel that Mr LU's comment does not provide the level of certainty required.