15
One issue which has been of particular concern is the right
of abode endorsement to be placed in BN (0) passports.
This needs to be agreed with the Chinese Government
because the UK Government cannot give such a right
in the Special Administrative Region after June 1997
We have therefore discussed this matter with the Chinese Government in the Joint Liaison Group: and they have
agreed in principle that the wording of the endorsement
should be as follows:
"The holder of this passport has Hong Kong Permanent
identity card No - which states that the holder has the right of abode in Hong Kong".
We expect to reach final agreement on this and other related
matters at the next meeting of the Sino British Joint Liaison Group in March.
This endorsement will effectively guarantee that BN (0)s will
be able to return to Hong Kong and there is therefore every reason to think that the BN (0) passport will be as acceptable
t to the three countries as the present BDTC passport. This
7
at the present time enables holders to travel to about
70 countries in the world visa free.
I appreciate the concern felt in Hong Kong which has led
Members of the Legislative Council to propose an endorsement in the passport to show that the holder does not require
Aabrated aceplates
/entry