The son of businessman Ranjan Marwah, a founder of the Mother's Choice charity for pregnant teenagers, yesterday lost his bid to win Chinese citizenship.
Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung ruled that Azan Aziz Marwah's petition was a lost cause, in a case that raised questions about who could become a Chinese national.
Not only did the 25-year-old fail to prove he automatically qualified as a Chinese national, but the Hong Kong-born Mr Marwah was already a US citizen, which disqualified him since the mainland did not recognise dual nationality, the Court of First Instance judge ruled. Mr Marwah's mother was a US citizen.
'There is no indication whatsoever that the applicant is prepared to renounce his US citizenship in order to have Chinese nationality,' Mr Justice Cheung wrote in his decision.
Mr Marwah had argued that he was automatically entitled to a Hong Kong passport - and Chinese nationality - because his Indian father was naturalised as a Chinese citizen five years ago.
The Director of Immigration rejected Mr Marwah's claim and argued that he would qualify for automatic citizenship only if one or both of his parents were Chinese nationals when he was born.
