CONFIDENTIAL
The Governor of Hong Kong has advised that of the three UMELCO requests, the one which is held most strongly is that relating to the passport endorsement. If this were met, but the other two requests were not, it is unlikely that there would be a confrontation between the Legislative Council and HMG. From this point of view therefore, the crux is the question of the passport endorsement. This is an area where I think that a move should be possible. David Waddington and Tim Renton discussed this possibility before the debates, and the former most helpfully agreed to take the line in the debates that we would keep looking for an acceptable formula.
I accept that it would not be right to put an endorsement in a passport which gave a misleading impression that the holder was not subject to the immigration rules. However I believe that Hong Kong would be satisfied with an endorsement which read :
"The holder of this passport does not require an entry certificate or a visa to enter the UK as a bona fide visitor"
This is a correct statement of fact. There is also a clear implication that the bona fide status of visitors can be checked by immigratior officers. In order to make sure that there was no confusion among the holders of such passports, I would propose that a leaflet be issued at the same time as the passport advising the holder exactly what his immi-
This gration status with regard to the UK is. leaflet could also explain the advantage of obtaining an entry certificate, so that there would be no suggestion of discouraging visitors from Hong Kong from using this facility.
CONFIDENTIAL
/It is clear.