status to fulfil this requirement. All BDTCs who did not have a connection with a remaining British Dependent Territory other than Hong Kong lost BDTC status on the day of the transfer in 1997. Ethnic Chinese Hongkongers became Chinese nationals and could only retain British nationality if they had registered as BN(O)s before the handover. Residents who were not ethnically Chinese, had not registered as BN(O)s, and would have been stateless on that date automatically became British Overseas citizens. Debate over full citizenship rights The deprivation of full passports and nationality rights for Hongkongers, and its reinforcement as part of the Joint Declaration, drew criticism for effectively making ethnicity the deciding factor in determining what rights British subjects were entitled to. Hong Kong residents and Legislative Council members, with some supporters in the British Parliament, believed that granting full British citizenship would have been more appropriate for instilling confidence in Hong Kong's post-handover future and that residents should have been offered a choice to continue living under British rule. Proponents argued that giving Hongkongers the right of abode as an "insurance policy" to protect against a potential curbing of civil freedoms by communist authorities after the handover would encourage them to stay in the territory and help prevent a mounting brain drain. BDTCs in Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands were already given access to citizenship, and it was noted that asking for the same to be granted to Hong Kong residents was only requesting equal treatment. Legislative Councillors and their supporters in Parliament unfavourably compared these nationality arrangements to the situation in Macau, where residents were allowed to retain Portuguese citizenship and right of abode after that territory's transfer to China in 1999. A considerable number of residents began emigrating to other countries in the 1980s. While the number of annual departures remained steady for most of the decade and only started to increase towards its end, the outflow grew dramatically following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The brutality of the Chinese government's response against demonstrations for democracy immediately dimmed local optimism in Hong Kong's future, indicated by a sudden drop in stock market and property values. The crackdown caused a rush among residents to seek permanent residency or citizenship in other countries. Residents feared an erosion of civil rights, the rule of law, and quality of life after the transition to Chinese rule, suspicions that were only exacerbated by