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The class of British National (Overseas) was specially created to British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong and the British government does not provide [[right of abode]] of the [[United Kingdom]] to them. Different from most of the nationalities all over the world, the status of British National (Overseas) is neither inheritable nor transferable. It means that the children of British Nationals (Overseas) who are not British Nationals (Overseas) themselves cannot gain this status from their parents. In other words, the British National (Overseas) parents has no right to pass this status to their non-British National (Overseas) children. As a result, it is believed that the number of people who have British National (Overseas) status will keep on declining in the future, and will slowly vanish eventually. If a British National (Overseas) has Chinese citizenship, he or she can hold a [[Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport]].
The class of British National (Overseas) was specially created to British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong and the British government does not provide [[right of abode]] of the [[United Kingdom]] to them. Different from most of the nationalities all over the world, the status of British National (Overseas) is neither inheritable nor transferable. It means that the children of British Nationals (Overseas) who are not British Nationals (Overseas) themselves cannot gain this status from their parents. In other words, the British National (Overseas) parents has no right to pass this status to their non-British National (Overseas) children. As a result, it is believed that the number of people who have British National (Overseas) status will keep on declining in the future, and will slowly vanish eventually. If a British National (Overseas) has Chinese citizenship, he or she can hold a [[Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport]].


When [[Nationality law of the People's Republic of China]] has become applicable to Hong Kong since [[1 July]] [[1997]], all British Dependent Territories citizenships of Hong Kong effectively cease to exist permanently and cannot be revived. In addition, early in the 19th meeting of the 8th [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] held on [[15 May]] [[1996]], the Chinese authority explained the adoption of Nationality law of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty in details, in which the Chinese authority stated that all Hong Kong residents who are of [[Chinese]] descent are deemed as citizens of the People's Republic of China regardless of what citizenships or nationality they hold.<ref>[http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm]</ref> The decision made by the Standing Committee resulted in the inapplicability of Chapter 9 of Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China towards Hong Kong residents with Chinese descent, which writes that "Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality."
When [[Nationality law of the People's Republic of China]] has become applicable to Hong Kong since [[1 July]] [[1997]], all British Dependent Territories citizenships of Hong Kong effectively cease to exist permanently and cannot be revived. In addition, early in the 19th meeting of the 8th [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] held on [[15 May]] [[1996]], the Chinese authority explained the adoption of Nationality law of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty in details, in which the Chinese authority stated that all Hong Kong residents who are of [[Chinese]] descent are deemed as citizens of the People's Republic of China regardless of what citizenships or nationalities they hold.<ref>[http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm]</ref> The decision made by the Standing Committee resulted in the inapplicability of Chapter 9 of Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China towards Hong Kong residents with Chinese descent, which writes that "Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality."


It should be noted the British government has made it clear that British Nationals (Overseas) with Chinese descent cannot enjoy [[consular protection]] in [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]] and the [[mainland China]].<ref>[http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=174346 http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=174346]</ref> In practice, when a senior [[journalist]] with British National (Overseas) status, [[Ching Cheong]], from ''[[The Straits Times]]'' in [[Singapore]] was detained, accused and imprisoned by the government of People's Republic of China for alleged [[espionage]] by providing state secrets to [[Taiwan]], the British government refused to provide consular protection him despite there were civil groups urging the [[Foreign Office]] to do so. The British Foreign Office explained that they could provide assistance to Ching Cheong, but they simply could not intervene the judiciary of other countries.<ref>[http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20050606/20050606020155_0001.html http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20050606/20050606020155_0001.html]</ref>
It should be noted the British government has made it clear that British Nationals (Overseas) with Chinese descent cannot enjoy [[consular protection]] in [[Hong Kong]], [[Macau]] and the [[mainland China]].<ref>[http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=174346 http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=174346]</ref> In practice, when a senior [[journalist]] with British National (Overseas) status, [[Ching Cheong]], from ''[[The Straits Times]]'' in [[Singapore]] was detained, accused and imprisoned by the government of People's Republic of China for alleged [[espionage]] by providing state secrets to [[Taiwan]], the British government refused to provide consular protection him despite there were civil groups urging the [[Foreign Office]] to do so. The British Foreign Office explained that they could provide assistance to Ching Cheong, but they simply could not intervene the judiciary of other countries.<ref>[http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20050606/20050606020155_0001.html http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20050606/20050606020155_0001.html]</ref>

Revision as of 16:16, 4 October 2008

British citizenship and
nationality law
Introduction
Nationality classes
See also
Law relating to former territories
Relevant legislation

British National (Overseas), commonly known as BN(O), is one of the major classes of British nationality under British nationality law. Holders of this nationality are Commonwealth citizens, but not British citizens. They are not granted right of abode of anywhere, including the United Kingdom and Hong Kong through their British National (Overseas) status.

The creation of the class of British National (Overseas) was a response to the question of the future prospect of Hong Kong back in 1980s, and therefore the nationality was specially "tailor-made" for the Hong Kong residents with British Dependent Territories citizen status by virtue of their connection with Hong Kong, and to let them retain an appropiate relationship with the United Kingdom after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.[1]From 1 July 1987 to 1997, around 3.4 million of British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong successfully gained British National (Overseas) status by registration. Hong Kong's British Dependent Territories citizenship then ceased to exist after 30 June, 1997.

Upon registration, British National (Overseas) status is for life and will not be lost in case of dual nationality. Nevertheless, this status cannot be passed to anyone and there is no way to gain this status after 1997 since its registration procedure was ended by then. All British Nationals (Overseas) are entitled to enjoy a variety of rights in the United Kingdom and to use British National (Overseas) passport as travel docuement. They can apply for or renew their passport if they wish. As at 2007, 3.44 million of Hong Kong residents still retained the status as British National (Overseas), yet, the number of valid British National (Overseas) passport had sharply declined that only 800,000 of them still held a valid British National (Overseas) passport.

Although British Nationals (Overseas) are basically regarded as British nationals under British nationality law, in light of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China and the decision made in the 19th meeting of the 8th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the People's Republic of China unilaterally regards British National (Overseas) passport as purly travel docuement and all British Nationals (Overseas) who are of Chinese descent are automatically and solely regarded as Chinese citizens. As a result, they are not entitled to consular protection in Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland China even if they have never applied for a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport.[2]

History

Background

See also: British nationality law and Hong Kong, Sino-British Joint Declaration, and History of Hong Kong

By the late 1970s, it had become a public concern in the colonial Hong Kong that the 99-year land lease of the New Territories to Britain was about to expire in around 20 years time. The public concern immediately resulted in a seris of negotiations between the Chinese and British government in the early 1980s regarding the furture prospect of Hong Kong. The issue was eventually settled down by the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on 9 December 1984. Since then, the furture of Hong Kong was destined that its sovereignty would be transfer to People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997.

However, the decision reached by the two governments in the Joint Declaration brought uncertainty of future to the general public of Hong Kong. Many of them were deeply worried to be ruled by the mainland Chinese regime and started to doubt about the future prospect of Hong Kong. In order to effectively avoid Hong Kong people migrating to Britain and other places, and to reinforce people's confidence towards the future of Hong Kong, the British government introduced a new class of British nationality according to the provisions under the United Kingdom Memorandum to the Joint Declaration which would allow Hong Kong's British Dependent Territories citizens to retain an appropiate relationship with its former suzerain, the United Kingdom, after 1997.

Hong Kong Act 1985

After the signing of the Joint Declaration, a new class of British nationality, knwon as British National (Overseas), was created by the Hong Kong Act 1985 and was passed by the British Parliament. The new nationality was for life, non-inheritable and was specially created for British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong.

File:BNO advertisement.jpg
British National (Overseas) passport advertisement by the British Consulate-General Hong Kong in 2004.

The 1985 Act was brought into effect by the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. Under Article 4(1) of the Order, it provided that on and after 1 July 1987, there would be a new form of British nationality, the holders of which would be known as British Nationals (Overseas). Article 4(2) of the Order provided that adults and minors who had a connection to Hong Kong were entitled to make an application to become British Nationals (Overseas) by registration. [3]

Becoming a British National (Overseas) was therefore neither an automatic nor an involuntary process and indeed many eligible people who had the requisite connection with Hong Kong never applied to become British Nationals (Overseas). Acquisition of the new status had to be voluntary and therefore a conscious act. To make it involuntary or automatic would have been contrary to the assurances given to the PRC government which led to the words "eligible to" being used in paragraph (a) of the United Kingdom Memorandum to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Any person who failed to register as a British Nationals (Overseas) by 1 July 1997 and would thereby be rendered stateless, automatically became a British Overseas citizen under article 6(1) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986.

No person could become a British National (Overseas) automatically by being born in Hong Kong, by descent or by any involuntary means. A person was required to make an application on the prescribed form to the British authorities, and applicants only became a British National (Overseas) when their application was approved and duly registered under the authority of the Home Secretary. The deadline for applications passed in 1997.

Registration procedure

The registration procedure of the British National (Overseas) status started on 1 July 1987. Any one who held British Dependent Territories citizen status by connection with Hong Kong could register for applying the new nationality in Hong Kong's Immigration Department, passport offices in Britain or any passport offices of the Bitish Embassies, Consulates or Missions abroad. The applicant would automatically gain the new status once his or her application was duly approved. Same as British Dependent Territories citizen passport, the cover of British National (Overseas) passport was originally in black colour. When machine-readable British National (Overseas) passport and British Dependent Territories citizen passport were introduced on 1 June 1990, their cover-colour was changed into burgundy. The new machine-readable passpost had built-in optical codes which could enable holders to pass through international immigration control points equipped with optical code readers more quickly.

Although the colonial government had continuously reaffirmed that British government adopted the same immigration policy to both British Dependent Territories citizen passport holders and British National (Overseas) passport holders, and the legitimacy of British National (Overseas) passport had not been denied by any country, most Hong Kong residents lost confidence to the new passport in the early years. From 1 July 1987 to 31 December 1989, the Hong Kong government had issued a total of 731,600 passports, in which 85% or 630,700 of them were British Dependent Territories citizen passports. In contrast, only 100,916 of British National (Overseas) passports were issued, which constituted merely 15% of the total number. The figures showed that most people chose to retain their British Dependent Territories citizen status and not to gain the new and additional status when renewing their passports.

In order to facilitate the registration procedure more effectively, the government started to divide Hong Kong's British Dependent Territories citizens into groups by year of birth in 1993, and a deadline for applying British National (Overseas) status and passport was set for each group. The deadlines are shown as follows:

Starting from the mid-year of 1993, applicants were strongly adviced to register before the deadline of the group which they belonged to. All late applicants without a legitimate written-explanation will be deprived of their right to register. Basically, most applications were done on or before 30 June 1997 and British Dependent Territories citizenship of Hong Kong officially ceased to exist after that day. However, for the people who acquired Hong Kong's British Dependent Territories citizenship from 1 January to 30 June 1997, in order to let them have ample time for application, they were allowed to register by 30 September, which was by then nearly three months after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong. In light of the United Kingdom Memorandum to the Joint Declaration, 31 December 1997 was the final expiry date to register for British National (Overseas) status. After that date, no more new registration can be made ever.

The measures adopted by the government attracted a large number of Hong Kong residents going to the Immigration Department for registration in the final years before the transfer of sovereignty. For instance, from 1 January to 30 March 1996, there were a total number of 200,000 applicants registered to be British Nationals (Overseas) in three-month time. On 30 March 1996, the deadline for people who were born from 1977 to 1981, 54,000 applicants rushed to the Immigration Department Headquarters on Gloucester Road, Wan Chai for registration. The queue was long enough to extend all the way to the nearby Wan Chai Sports Ground and the scene there was chaotic that a few applicants wrangled and fought with each other on the Sports Ground.

After the transfer of sovereignty

As of 31 December 1997, around 3.4 million of Hong Kong's British Dependent Territories citizens had successfully gained British National (Overseas) status and there were around 2.7 million of valid British National (Overseas) passports in use. In addition, around 2 million of Hong Kong residents did not obtain British National (Overseas) status. For those who did not obtain the status, some of them not to register because of private reasons but most of them were not British Dependent Territories citizens and held only Hong Kong Certificates of Identity, and therefore they were not entitled to registration. Besides, some British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong acquired British citizenship before 1997 so they did not register to be British Nationals (Overseas).

In the early years after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, British National (Overseas) passport was once the most popular travel docuement to Hong Kong people. From April 1997 to the end of 2006, including the number of issuance for application and renewal, the British government had issued a total of 794,457 British National (Overseas) passports. The number of issuance reached to a peak in 2001 that 170,000 passports were issued in a single year. However, the number of issuance since then has declined sharply that only 30,000 British National (Overseas) passports were issued in 2006. As at May 2007, around 2.6 million out of 3.4 million of British Nationals (Overseas) did not hold a valid British National (Overseas) passport.[4]

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty, the data of British Nationals (Overseas) were collected and managed by the Immigration Department. Following the transfer of sovereignty, the British Consulate-General Hong Kong has taken over the responsibility for administering the British National (Overseas) database.[4]

From 2006, biometric British National (Overseas) passports has been introduced by the British authority. To largely reduce the chance for forgery, each biometric passport bears a "electronic travel document symbol" on its cover and a contactless chip storing digital data including holder's personal data is inserted in a page of the passport.[5]

In March 2008, former Attorney General of England and Wales Lord Goldsmith was commissioned by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to conduct a review on the feasibility of future reform of British nationalities. Although the Citizenship Review which was released later did not clearly state the Brirish government would reform the status of British National (Overseas), it is believed that such reform will be taken place in future.

Visa Free Access

According to the website of British Consulate General Hong Kong, as at 25 August 2008, a number of 120 countries provide visa free access or visa upon arrival to British National (Overseas) passport holders[6].

Template:Col-6Template:Col-6Template:Col-6Template:Col-6Template:Col-6Template:Col-6

Furthermore, it is believed that at least 23 more countries provide visa free access or visa upon arrival to British National (Overseas) passport holders. They include Andorra[3], Bulgaria[4], Cyprus[5], Egypt[6], Estonia[7], Latvia[8], Lithuania[9], Malta[10], Monaco[11], Morocco[12], Nepal[13], Oman[14], Palau[15]、Qatar[16], Romania[17], Slovakia[18], Slovenia[19], Tanzania[20], Turkey[21], Uganda[22][23], Yemen[24][25], Taiwan[26] and New Caledonia[27].

The Republic of China only fully recognises British citizens but does not recognise British Nationals (Overseas) since they are mostly ethnic Chinese. British National (Overseas) passport and Hong Kong Special Administration Region passport holders) need a Exit & Entry Permit Taiwan Republic of China (landing visa) specific for them to enter Taiwan but British Citizens are eligible for the full visa free access programme.[7]

British Nationals (Overseas) are not yet approved to participate in the Visa Waiver Program of the United States. The adjusted refusal rate of US B-visas (B1, B1/B2, B2) of BN(O) passport holders in the fiscal year 2007 was 2.4%,[8][9] which was lower than the 3% or less requirement for the programme. The refusal rate of HKSAR passport was 3.4% in that year, which was above the 3% requirement. Currently, the United States confers "Hong Kong reciprocity" for British National (Overseas) passport holders (which is the same as HKSAR passport). The "United Kingdom reciprocity" is not applicable for British Nationals (Overseas). However, for statistical reasons, British National (Overseas) has a different country code HOKO in US visas, while HKSAR passport and HKSAR Document of Identity have the country code HNK. British Nationals (Overseas) can enter Guam without a visa while HKSAR passport holders require one.[10][11][12]It is interesting to note that, for student visa applications (F, M and J) (SEVIS), British National (Overseas) passport holders must fill in the nationality field as "Hong Kong" or "China", while British citizens must fill in the nationality field as "United Kingdom".[13]

British National (Overseas) passport holders are eligible for Electronic Travel Authority of Australia, with the restriction that they cannot apply online through the Internet.[14]

From early 2007, British Nationals (Overseas) have been eligible for full visa-free visit to the European Union. When Jack Straw was Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, he wrote to the European Commission and the European Union arguing that British Nationals (Overseas) passport holders should be granted visa free access to the Schengen area. The European Union refuses to grant visa-free access to British Overseas Territories citizens without right of abode in the United Kingdom, British Overseas citizens, British protected persons and British subjects based on the ground that these people only have a "tenuous" link with the United Kingdom, as they have no right of abode in the United Kingdom and are subjected to the United Kingdom immigration controls. Nevertheless, even British Nationals (Overseas) currently have no right of abode in the United Kingdom, they are now eligible for visa-free access to the Schengen area. [15][16][17] Yet, HKSAR passport holders have started to enjoy this prevelige in 2001,[18] which contributed to the decline of new application for British National (Overseas) passports.

Other preveliges

Although the status of British Natioal (Overseas) is not granted right of abode of anywhere, British Nationals (Overseas) are themselves Hong Kong permanent residents and thus the following statement is printed in each British National (Overseas) passport:

The holder of this passport has Hong Kong permanent identity card number XXXXXXX(X) which states that the holder has the right of abode in Hong Kong.

British Nationals (Overseas) enjoy visa-free access for up to three months to enter the United Kingdom and the following statement is also printed in each British National (Overseas) passport:

In accordance with UK immigration rules the holder of this passport does not require an entry certificate or visa to visit the UK.

British Nationals (Overseas) are Commonwealth citizens and therefore, they can enjoy many rights in the United Kingdom. For examples, they are eligible to join Her Majesty's Civil Service and become civil servants, and are eligible to vote if they have lived in the United Kingdom for more than six months.[19]Besides, British Nationals (Overseas) can receive peerages and become peers of the House of Lords. They can also be confered British honours, enjoy working holidays in the United Kingdom and can apply for Indefinite leave to remain if they have continuously lived in the United Kingdom for five years.

If British Nationals (Overseas) intend to study in the United Kingdom, UK Residence Permits (UKRPs) are issued abroad without charge to them and they are not required to register to the local police of the place where they study.[20] Different from other British nationalities without right of abode, such as British subject and British protected person, British National (Overseas) is for life and will not be lost in case of dual nationality or even multiple nationality.

Restrictions

The class of British National (Overseas) was specially created to British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong and the British government does not provide right of abode of the United Kingdom to them. Different from most of the nationalities all over the world, the status of British National (Overseas) is neither inheritable nor transferable. It means that the children of British Nationals (Overseas) who are not British Nationals (Overseas) themselves cannot gain this status from their parents. In other words, the British National (Overseas) parents has no right to pass this status to their non-British National (Overseas) children. As a result, it is believed that the number of people who have British National (Overseas) status will keep on declining in the future, and will slowly vanish eventually. If a British National (Overseas) has Chinese citizenship, he or she can hold a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport.

When Nationality law of the People's Republic of China has become applicable to Hong Kong since 1 July 1997, all British Dependent Territories citizenships of Hong Kong effectively cease to exist permanently and cannot be revived. In addition, early in the 19th meeting of the 8th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held on 15 May 1996, the Chinese authority explained the adoption of Nationality law of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong after the transfer of sovereignty in details, in which the Chinese authority stated that all Hong Kong residents who are of Chinese descent are deemed as citizens of the People's Republic of China regardless of what citizenships or nationalities they hold.[21] The decision made by the Standing Committee resulted in the inapplicability of Chapter 9 of Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China towards Hong Kong residents with Chinese descent, which writes that "Any Chinese national who has settled abroad and who has been naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose Chinese nationality."

It should be noted the British government has made it clear that British Nationals (Overseas) with Chinese descent cannot enjoy consular protection in Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland China.[22] In practice, when a senior journalist with British National (Overseas) status, Ching Cheong, from The Straits Times in Singapore was detained, accused and imprisoned by the government of People's Republic of China for alleged espionage by providing state secrets to Taiwan, the British government refused to provide consular protection him despite there were civil groups urging the Foreign Office to do so. The British Foreign Office explained that they could provide assistance to Ching Cheong, but they simply could not intervene the judiciary of other countries.[23]

However, in fact, many Hong Kong residents with foreign passports can enter the mainland China as foreigners without hindrance even though they are regarded as Chinese citizens by the Chinese government. The reason is because it is difficult for the Chinese authority to know which Hong Kong residents have dual citizenships. Regarding the United Kingdom, there is no restriction on its nationals to acquire dual nationalities.

Foot notes

  1. ^ http://www.cmab.gov.hk/tc/issues/memo.htm
  2. ^ http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm
  3. ^ "Connection to Hong Kong" refers to Hong Kong people who gained British Dependent Territories citizen status by birth, by naturalization, by adoption or by descent.
  4. ^ a b Lords Hansard, British House of Lords, 22 March 2007
  5. ^ http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/biometric-passports
  6. ^ http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/zh/passports/bno-visa-free-access
  7. ^ http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386847
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ http://travel.state.gov/pdf/FY07.pdf
  10. ^ http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciprocity/reciprocity_3699.html
  11. ^ http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciprocity/reciprocity_3579.html
  12. ^ http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/niv_guam.html
  13. ^ http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/niv_sevis_nationality_and_country_of_birth_codes.html
  14. ^ http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/976/eligibility.htm
  15. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semsimple&STEMMER=en&WORDS=bn%20o&ALL=&ANY=&PHRASE=%22BN%28O%29%22&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=BN%28O%29&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=muscat_highlighter_first_match&URL=/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmfaff/501/501we03.htm#muscat_highlighter_first_match
  16. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmeuleg/34-xxxvii/34x22.htm
  17. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmfaff/memo/166/uceu2002.htm
  18. ^ http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200104/06/0406208.htm
  19. ^ [2]
  20. ^ http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/borderforce/preentry/entryclearance.pdf?view=Binary
  21. ^ http://www.immd.gov.hk/chtml/chnnationality_2.htm
  22. ^ http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=2&ReleaseID=174346
  23. ^ http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20050606/20050606020155_0001.html
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