HC Deb 06 June 1996 vol 278 c516W
Mr. Corbett

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the security of human rights in Hong Kong after 1 July 1997. [30977]

Mr. David Davis

The Sino-British joint declaration on the question of Hong Kong, which is a binding treaty between Britain and China, provides for continuing human rights protection in Hong Kong after the handover. Specifically, in the last paragraph of chapter XIII of annex I to the joint declaration, China pledges to ensure that the provisions of the international covenants on civil and political rights and on economic, social and cultural rights, as applied to Hong Kong, remain in force after 30 June 1997.

Mr. Garnier

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on the implementation in Hong Kong of the Chinese nationality law. [32165]

Mr. Rifkind

The interpretation in question states that British citizenship acquired by Chinese nationals under the British nationality selection scheme will not be recognised under the Chinese nationality law. The British Government regard British citizenship obtained under the BNSS as having exactly the same validity as British citizenship acquired in any other way. We do not differentiate between British citizens who have acquired their British citizenship through the BNSS and those who have acquired it in any other way. Passports issued under the BNSS are the same as passports issued to all other British citizens and are equally valid.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong. [31241]

Mr. David Davis

[holding answer 4 June 1996]: There has been encouraging progress in recent months. The steering committee of the international conference on Indo-Chinese refugees, which held its final meeting on March, emphasised that those screened out as non-refugees must return to Vietnam. We have been working hard to raise the monthly number of returnees, with good co-operation from the Vietnamese Government. As a result, the rate of both voluntary and orderly repatriation has increased. It remains our objective to complete the repatriation of Vietnamese migrants by July 1997.