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which the Chinese Government did not agree. Huang Hua then asked if the British Government had any other ideas apart from the proposals transmitted by Sir Percy Cradock. Lord Carrington said that he did not have any ideas at the moment but what he was seeking to do was to convey his anxiety over the situation in Hong Kong, which is of importance to both China and Britain, that there might suddenly be a loss of confidence by investors which neither China nor Britain wanted. If both
sides could think of solutions and come back and talk in the
future this might be the best way of proceeding.
Hong Kong Transit Visas
18. Huang Hua said that private PRC citizens passing through Hong Kong were having some difficulties. He had received many letters from PRC citizens in the Philippines and elsewhere in which they complained about discrimination and insulting treatment they received in passing through Hong Kong. On 19 March he received another letter from Manila complaining of
insults and discrimination (a copy of the letter was handed to Lord Carrington). Huang Hua explained that private PRC citizens passing through Hong Kong were granted a 48-hour visa
and might apply for an extension of another 7 days. Those
who stayed more than one month in Hong Kong were returned to
China. In addition if private PRC citizens did not hold all
the necessary certificates or if the Hong Kong Immigration
Department suspected that certain Chinese nationals did not
have the intention of travelling on to a third country, entry
to Hong Kong was refused. He added that Hong Kong immigration
officials carried out strict interrogation of Chinese nationals
passing through Hong Kong. These interrogations sometimes last several hours. This practice caused inconvenience to Chinese nationals passing through Hong Kong and hurt their pride because this discriminatory practice did not apply to other
nationalities.
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/19.