I WOULD like to correct a misreporting in the article headlined, 'Passport rule means staying Chinese' (South China Morning Post, April 27), which claimed I said that British passport holders under the British Nationality Scheme, 'will not be able to relinquish their Chinese Nationality even if they want to'. That is not what I said in the interview and it is not true.
Any Chinese national can withdraw from Chinese nationality by applying to the authorities, or by immigrating to a foreign country and gaining that country's nationality.
What I said was since holders of a British passport under the British Nationality Scheme did not gain their new nationality by residing in Britain, they have not automatically lost their Chinese nationality and thus remain a Chinese national.
Many people wrongly think that since Chinese nationality law does not recognise dual nationalities, they are no longer Chinese once they have gained another nationality. It all depends on how one acquires new nationality. For those who gain their new nationality by fulfilling a substantial residence requirement in their new country, according to Chinese law, they are no longer Chinese.
Holders of a British passport under the British Nationality Scheme certainly does not fall into this category. But it is not true that 'they cannot relinquish their Chinese nationality even if they want to'. Chinese nationality law has clear provisions for those who want to withdraw from Chinese nationality and does not exclude this group of individuals from exercising their rights.
SHIU SIN-POR Central