HONG KONG, Jan. 23 -- Members of Hong Kong's non-ethnic Chinese minority population renewed their calls Tuesday for the British government to grant them full nationality as fears heightened about their futures under China. Many of the residents, chiefly people who trace their lineage to countries on the Indian subcontinent, hold no foreign passports and are concerned that they will be left stateless after China takes over Hong Kong in 1997. Ravi Gidumal, a spokesman for the Indian Resources Group, was quoted on Hong Kong Radio as saying there are 3,000 to 4,000 people with no form of secure nationality with Britain's 1997 handover a mere 18 months away. On Tuesday, about 70 members of the 4-year-old group petitioned Governor Chris Patten and members of the Executive Council, the governor's cabinet, to persuade London to reconsider giving British citizenship to these people, many of whom are Hong Kong natives who consider themselves British. China, which takes over the British colony on July 1, 1997, has made it clear that people who are not ethnically Chinese will not be permitted to apply for the new Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports. 'A few issues lately have heightened people's concerns,' Gidumal said, referring to the recent closure of the British Nationality Selection Scheme. Gidumal said the latest blow to the group's morale occurred Jan. 9, when Transport Secretary Haider Barma, who was born in Hong Kong but is an ethnic Indian, resigned. He said that as a non-Chinese, he did not expect Beijing would allow him to stay in office after it resumes sovereignty.
Barma, 51, was the highest-ranking non-Chinese and non-Westerner in the civil service, which he joined in 1966. He speaks fluent Cantonese, the Chinese dialect spoken in Hong Kong, but holds no foreign passport. Under the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, some 20 top posts in the SAR's semi-autonomous government are to be held by ethnic Chinese. 'One has to be pragmatic,' Barma said. 'The Chinese have got their criteria, one has got to respect this, and I think one's just got to face reality.' Barma said he intends to stay in Hong Kong after 1997. He has become chairman of the Public Service Commission, which oversees the civil service and is not among the posts reserved for ethnic Chinese. 'The resignation of the secretary of transport recently has made it very clear that there will be a distinction between those who are ethnically Chinese and those who are not,' Gidumal told government radio. 'This, I think, has caused further concern in the community and is a real example of some of the problems people might face after 1997,' he said. Gidumal and others associated with the group pointed out that since they consider the vibrant colony of 6 million home, most have no intention of moving to Britain and are merely seeking some guarantees in case rule by China goes sour or Beijing decides to pull the welcome mat from beneath them.
