Confused about post-1997 status

I HOLD a British Dependent Territories Citizen (BDTC) passport, with right of abode here. The Hong Kong Government is now compelling BDTC passport holders to apply for a British National Overseas (BNO) passport, before June 30, 1997. The Government says the BNO passport will be acceptable for the purpose of international travel after then.

However, after that date, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will exist, and we will be Chinese citizens. Yet I saw a newspaper ad which said that the BNO status was for life under Article 3 of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. Is that true? If after 1997, I am in a foreign country with a BNO passport and I need help, where do I go - to the British or to the Chinese consulate? I should be told.

STEPHEN LAU Kowloon Bay