On July 1, 1997, at a second past midnight, a century and a half of British rule over Hong Kong will end and the territory will revert to the People's Republic of China (hereinafter China).(1) There are many issues that the people of Hong Kong face with pessimism as the time grows closer for Hong Kong to become part of mainland China. One of the biggest issues is whether or not residents of Hong Kong, who are not citizens of Britain, will receive British citizenship before the territory returns to China.
To understand this issue, it is necessary to briefly outline the history of Great Britain and China and its involvement with Hong Kong. After the Opium War in the mid 1800s, the British slowly but surely gained control of Hong Kong from China.(2) The British, influenced by Western imperialism in the Far East, desired to expand the territory of Hong Kong to defend it from attack by any European power or the United States.(3) Therefore, in the Convention of 1898, Great Britain persuaded China to lease Hong Kong to it for ninety-nine years.(4)
However, despite the leasing agreement between the two countries, China has consistently sought reunification of all lost Chinese territory with mainland China.(5) In 1984, China and Great Britain signed the Joint Declaration(6) which was the document which would govern the transfer of control of Hong Kong from Great Britain to China on July 1, 1997.(7) The Joint Declaration outlines the terms of governance by China and essentially limits the extent of control that China may exert over Hong Kong after the transfer.(8)
Hong Kong originally welcomed the transfer when announced in 1984 because it provided a suitable framework for maintaining Hong Kong's prosperous system.(9) However, because of the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 and the removal of Zhao Ziyang, a co-signor of the Joint Declaration, from the Office of Prime Minister of China, more and more Hong Kong residents view the transfer with dread.(10) Hong Kong residents are apprehensive of the political turmoil that was exposed during that incident,(11) and fear that incidents like Tiananmen Square could occur again and would seriously affect them if the world economic community reacts harshly to it.(12) Another great concern is that the Chinese government will not honor its promise to maintain Hong Kong's capitalist system.(13) "Because China has approached Hong Kong as a domestic, rather than an international concern, there is an issue of whether the Chinese will honor the Joint Declaration after 1997 . . . ."(14) Hong Kong now believes that there are no guarantees that the Chinese government will follow the Joint Declaration.(15) Further, the people feel that there is nothing stopping China from altering the Constitution in the future.(16) These are the concerns which are quite tangible in the minds of the people of Hong Kong.
Great Britain, aware of the impending transfer of the territory, was worried about the welfare and rights of the residents of Hong Kong. As a result, Great Britain is seeking to provide citizenship status for Hong Kong residents before the transfer in 1997. "[Great] Britain has a concern to secure the future for British citizens who intend to remain in Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty."(17) The people of Hong Kong agree with the efforts of the British government in assisting them in securing the future. The residents and legislators of Hong Kong believe that Great Britain has a moral responsibility to provide a safe and secure future for the colony's entire population including a responsibility to restore full British citizenship to all Hong Kong British subjects.(18) Providing Hong Kong residents with British citizenship would allow them to have greater control over their future and would alleviate the fears and uncertainties they have about the transfer of sovereignty.(19) Most of the residents plan to continue living in Hong Kong, but would prefer the security of British citizenship in case of future events which may take place in China.(20)
Since 1984, Britain has had a restrictive policy concerning granting citizenship to Hong Kong residents. There are 450,000 foreign residents in Hong Kong.(21) By 1991, only 65,000 residents applied for British citizenship for the 50,000 places Great Britain had made available.(22) With the change in sovereignty approaching, these restrictions over British nationality have created great debate and concern amongst the people of Hong Kong.(23)
The populations affected most by the restrictive policy are the ethnic minorities of Hong Kong.(24) The ethnic minority is comprise mostly of people of Indian and Pakistani descent.(25) These minorities have lucrative businesses in Hong Kong and the denial of British citizenship will affect not only their lives but the economy of Hong Kong.(26) If these minorities are rendered stateless, not only will Hong Kong lose these residents, but they will also lose the businesses that these minorities own. Consequently, the British government is currently viewing a backbench bill which will provide British citizenships to several thousand Indian-origin residents.(27) Up until now, this bill has been given its second reading without debate or vote.(28) This bill known as the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill,(29) was introduced into Parliament and has already been cleared through both the House of Lords and the House of Commons and is awaiting Royal Assent.(30) If this bill passes, Indian and Pakistani residents would be given the right to live in Britain.(31) Most of these residents intend on staying in Hong Kong, but they simply want the security that a British passport would provide.(32)
Furthermore, along with the ethnic minorities, there are many women who are desperate to give birth in Hong Kong,(33) and who fear that change may occur after the impending transfer in 1997.(34) There has been a trend of women running through the street, in advanced stages of labor, and ringing the alarm bell at the fire stations so that the Hong Kong fire services are obligated to take them to the hospital.(35) According to Elsie Leung, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, "mothers prefer to give birth in a hospital because it provides concrete proof that the child was born in Hong Kong."(36) Many believe that having a child in the colony will allow them the right to remain in Hong Kong once it reverts to China.(37) Further, "some women hope to evade China's one-child policy by registering the birth of their second child in Hong Kong rather than China."(38) The majority of these women are wives of men who are residents, but not citizens of Hong Kong.(39)
The most important issue raised by the transfer is whether residents of Hong Kong will continue to enjoy the same level of prosperity and security after 1997. Although the Joint Declaration states that specific rights and freedoms currently enjoyed in Hong Kong will remain protected, the residents of Hong Kong are still worried.(40) The non-British citizenship residents of Hong Kong desire a British passport so that if there is upheaval after the transfer of sovereignty, they have the options that a British citizenship would allow them. Until Great Britain eases the restrictions on granting citizenship, Hong Kong resident's will view the impending transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese rule with doom.
In order to alleviate the concerns of the Hong Kong residents, the only thing that Great Britain can do is grant these residents citizenship status. Considering that the British Nationality Bill has already passed through the House of Lords and House of Commons, it is likely that this bill will be enacted. Not only do the Hong Kong residents have much to lose, but so does Great Britain. The minorities that are held in limbo right now are the minorities who own the lucrative businesses in Hong Kong. Economically, Great Britain has a stake in these businesses and if business owners are forced to leave Hong Kong, the economic loss can adversely affect Great Britain. In conclusion, due to the emotional turmoil this transfer is brewing, unless the residents of Hong Kong have the security of a British passport, more and more residents will be resentful and will view July 1, 1997 with great tragedy.
1. Chris Wood and Lillian So, Farewell Britannia, MacLean's, Feb. 3, 1997, available in LEXIS, News Library, CURNWS File.
2. John H. Henderson, The Reintegration of Hong Kong into the People's Republic of China: What it means to Hong Kong's Future Prosperity, 28 Van. J. Transnat'l L. 503 (1995), available in LEXIS, LAWREV Library, LARALR File.
3. Id. at 508.
4. Id.
5. Id. at 509.
6. Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, Dec. 19, 1984, P.R.C.-U.K., 1984 Gr. Brit. T.S. No. 26.
7. Henderson, supra note 2.
8. See id.
9. See id.
10. See id.
11. See id.
12. See id.
13. Henderson, supra note 2, at 516.
14. See id. at 519.
15. See id.
16. See id. at 522.
17. See id. at 517.
18. Jonathan Braude, Package Divisive, But May Stem Brain Drain, Times, Apr. 5, 1990, available in LEXIS, News Library, ARCNWS File.
19. Henderson, supra note 2, at 521.
20. Christopher Lockwood, Passports Key To Hong Kong Stability, Daily Telegraph, Jun. 20, 1989, available in LEXIS, News Library, ARCNWS File.
21. Wood, supra note 1.
22. Lorna Wong, Hong Kong: Citizenship Decision on UK Passports, South China Morning Post, Oct. 1, 1991, available in LEXIS, News Library, TXTNWS File.
23. Lockwood, supra note 18.
24. Scott McKenzie, Ethnic Minority List Drawn Up For Post-97, South China Morning Post, Apr. 26, 1996, available in LEXIS, News Library, CURNWS File.
25. Id.
26. Trevor Mason, Hong Kong Citizenship Bill Gets Green Light, Press Association Newsfile, Feb. 14, 1997, available in LEXIS, News Library, CURNWS File.
27. Id.
28. Id.
29. See British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997, (visited April 3, 1997)<http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/1997020.htm>.
30. James Landale, Party deal will clear backlog of legislation, Times Of London, March 19, 1997, available in LEXIS, News Library, CURNWS File.
31. Id.
32. See id.
33. Yojana Sharma, Labour of Love Beats Border Curbs, Daily Telegraph, Dec. 28, 1995, available in LEXIS, News Library, CURNWS File.
34. Id.
35. Id.
36. Id.
37. Id.
38. See supra note 33.
39. See id.
40. Henderson, supra note 2, at 505.
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