Nationality law of the People's Republic of China territory "before or after" their transfer of sovereignty to China are regarded as "born in China". Those who are of ethnic Chinese origin are Chinese nationals before and after the handovers. Having said that, people born in Hong Kong or Macao in the years before handover, were usually given British nationality (mostly British Dependent Territories Citizenship) and full Portuguese citizenship, based on British and Portuguese laws. For Hong Kong residents, the "Interpretation" of the Nationality Law was adopted at the Nineteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996, a year prior to
Nationality law of the People's Republic of China not cease to be a ROC national and instead becomes a "person of the Mainland area" with ROC nationality, in addition to PRC nationality he acquires. It is worth-noting that there are no similar legal restrictions for ROC nationals to obtain the permanent resident status of Hong Kong or Macau, and some of the permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau with PRC nationality also possess ROC nationality because they have obtained the "Overseas Chinese Identity Certificate" prior to the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong and Macau, so therefore they have dual nationality of the ROC and the