British Citizenship
In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was signed between Britain and Qing Dynasty of China, which made Hong Kong a colony under the British Empire until 1997.
This meant that anyone born in Hong Kong during this time were British subjects. As a British subject they were under the soveriegnty of the crown, which means they were under the protection of the crown in return for their loyalty. Many Chinese people in Hong Kong identified strongly with British nationality before the beginning of World War Two.
Hong Kong was and still is today a very multi-racial city, with the population consisting of Chinese, Europeans, Eurasian, Americans, Indians and other ethnicities. In 1901, Hong Kong already had a civil population of 274,543 Chinese, 4,498 Europeans and Americans, 1,956 Portuguese, 1,548 Indians, and 268 Eurasians, not counting the 1,162 individuals labelled as belonging to other races. (Ref 1)​​​​​​
Citizenship in colonial Hong Kong was a topic often up for debate, as its definitions and who it applied were contested.
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‘The colonial years, in different stages, were marked by continual tensions and struggles between the state and civil society over the questions of rights, belonging and participation’
Agnes S. Ku and Ngai Pun, Remaking Citizenship in Hong Kong: Community, Nation and the Global City (Routledge, 2004), p 1.
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We can see these questions coming to the forefront of debate when studying the evacuation of Hong Kong, through decisions of who received the protection of the British Empire, which is why it is important for students to understand the terminology of British citizenship and subjecthood in the context of Hong Kong in the early 20th century.
1914 British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act
This defined what British subjecthood meant across the British Empire, which therefore applied to Hong Kong and the citizens of Hong Kong.
British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 7th of August 1914
The following persons shall be deemed to be natural-born British subjects, namely :—
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(a)Any person born within His Majesty's dominions and allegiance
Important to remember, although Chinese and Eurasian people of Hong Kong were British subjects, they were not automatically given British citizenship.
They could attain British citizenship through ways such as the process of naturalisation, but this was rare.
What does naturalisation mean? The legal process for a non-citizen to aquire the citizenship of a country by meeting a criteria.
In conversation with Dr Vivian Kong: Were Chinese people in Hong Kong legally entitled to British Citizenship in the early 20th century? How could they gain it?
In this interview, Dr Vivian Kong discusses...
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The difference between subjecthood and citizenship
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How one could gain British citizenship through the process of naturalisation
Why would one want to claim British Citizenship?
​​Many Chinese civilians of Hong Kong wanted a British passport as it would give them access to many opportunities, such as working and living in the UK or another British dominion.
In conversation with Vivian Kong: Why would Chinese people want to claim British citizenship?
In this interview, Dr Vivian Kong discusses...​
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The benefits of claiming British citizenship, such as travel, convince. With a British passport, you could not legally be turned away at the border and, therefore, could go to other British colonies where there were job opportunity prospects, such as Singapore.
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One needed to have British nationality to serve in the colonial administration.
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With British subjecthood you could be appointed to public boards such as Justice of the Peace​
Part II: Naturalisation of Aliens
3 Effect of Certification of Naturalisation
(1) A person to whom a. certificate of naturalization is granted by a Secretary of State shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be entitled to all political and other rights, powers, and privileges, and be subject to all obligations, duties, and liabilities, to which a natural-born British subject is entitled or subject, and, as from the date of his naturalization, have to all intents and purposes the status of a natural-born British subject.
'British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914' UK Public General Acts, 7th of August 1914, Legislation.gov.uk <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/4-5/17/enacted> [Accessed 28 March 2025].
This states the rights that civilians of Hong Kong would gain if they attain naturalisation
The importance of British nationality
'This book serves as important reminder that Britishness meant so much more than whiteness'
Vivian Kong, Multi-racial Britishness: Global Networks in Hong Kong, (Cambridge University Press, 2023), p. 14.
Chinese people in Hong Kong wanted to attain British subjecthood not just for it transactional purpose but also because it was a nationality and identity they resonated with and therefore was very important to them.
Activity: Explore associations with Britishness through these primary sources, how do they support the statement above?
Source 1: Have a look at this photograph of Hong Kong troops at Whitehall in London during the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902
Image from ‘The Illustrated London News’ 16 August 1902, University of Bristol, Historical photographs of China. (https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Bk13-03)
Source 2: Check out this photograph of Queen Victoria's statue in Hong Kong. It is lit up in celebration of King George V and Queen Mary's coronation which took place in London on 22nd of June 1911.
Photograph by Afong Studio. University of Bristol Library, Special Collections. (https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Bi-s184)
Source 3: Have students read the two columns titled:
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"Chinese Parade Thrills Crowd"
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"Marks Coronation with Patriotic Display"
Questions for students: Why might Chinese and Eurasian citizens of Hong Kong identify with British nationality?
But whilst Chinese civilians of Hong Kong could and wanted to claim British citizenship, they were prevented by both racial and class barriers.
In conversation with Dr Vivian Kong: Were Chinese people in Hong Kong able to claim the benefits British Citizenship?
In this interview, Vivian Kong discusses...
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How it was difficult for Chinese people to claim entitlements as British subjects​ because of racial assumptions that the British colonial government held as they viewed that Chinese people would never be 'fully' British.
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Kong's research in the National Archives of documents from officials in the colonial offices in London where a Chinese resident of Hong Kong apply for a British passport and they were instead given travel certificates which gave travel for a specific destination and did not allow them to settle in Britain. This would not happen to a white British person applying for a British passport who was born in Hong Kong.
‘the awareness and deployment of a British status was not only a matter of race but also a matter of class’ as information of how to claim British citizenship ‘amongst the Chinese who lived in Hong Kong and Kowloon in 1921, only 215,66 out of 445,622 were literate.’
Vivian Kong, Multi-racial Britishness: Global Networks in Hong Kong, (Cambridge University Press, 2023) p. 51.
For example, in 1931 only 51% of the population aged 10 and upward could read, of which 74% were men and 19% were women. (ref 2).
A key point to note from the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act of 1914
Part II: Naturalisation of Aliens
2 Certification of Naturalisation
(3) The grant of a certificate of naturalization to any such alien shall be in the absolute discretion of the Secretary of State, and he may, with or without assigning any reason, give or withhold the certificate as he thinks most conducive to the public good, and no appeal shall lie from his decision
'British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914' UK Public General Acts, 7th of August 1914, Legislation.gov.uk <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/4-5/17/enacted> [Accessed 28 March 2025].
Why might this be important?
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You could discuss with your students the racist ideologies during this period that may have influenced the Secretary of state's agenda.
Second class citizens
There was a rising population of Eurasian civilians, who were descendants of the interracial coupling of Asian and European parentage. Eurasian civilians would identify strongly with British nationality more so than Chinese, as they did have a right to a British passport. (Ref 3) Yet despite this, they were still treated as second-class citizens in comparison to pure European/British descendants.
For example, Chinese people were not allowed to be part of the Hong Kong Club (ets. 1946) or travel in first-class of the Star Ferry.
The 'Night Star' Ferry, Hong Kong from Gordon Arthur Richards Collection,Special Collections Library, University of Bristol. https://hpcbristol.net/visual/SR-s02
Conclusion thoughts
This inaccessibility to British citizenship later held consequences in World War Two.Evacuation schemes were put in place that did not include Chinese and Eurasia women and children. Therefore they had to make their own way of evacuating Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded; if they had British passports, it would have made it much easier for them.
References
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Vivian Kong Multi-racial Britishness: global networks in Hong Kong, (Cambridge University Press, 2023) p. 6.
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Judith Agassi, 'Social Structure and Social Stratification in Hong Kong' from I. C. Jarvie (ed.) Hong Kong: A Society in Transition (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969), pp.(p 74).
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Philip Snow, The Fall of Hong Kong: British, China and the Japan Occupation, (Yale University Press, 2003) p. 11.