CONFIDENTIAL
British High Commission
PO Box 1812 Wellington New Zealand
Telegraphic Address Ukrep Telex NZ 3325
Telephone Wellington 726-049
DF Le Breton Esq.
NTD
FCO
Your reference
Our reference
M. Late 1011~ Mr. Ham
A very helpful action
a
from
343/1
NZ.
Zom Truth 9/2
2 December 1986
DKK 340/
Date
RECUL
TRY
180:
Dear Le Beter,
1 1 DEC 1986
mak
الحملة
ра
C
E UK
HONG KONG: BRITISH NATIONALS (OVERSEAS)
1. Would you please refer to your circular letter (reference GNP 343/32) of 23 September to Heads of Mission.
2. The High Commissioner took action as requested with the PUS equivalent at the NZMFA, Merv Norrish. He handed over a
copy of the circular Note to diplomatic missions in London, together with a piece of paper based on para 1 of the annex to your letter and paras 2, 4 (first two sentences) and 5 (first two sentences) of your letter. Norrish did not refer to the position of those few people who will lose the Right of Abode in Hong Kong post-1997 (although this was referred to in the circular Note). The High Commissioner did not therefore need to draw on the remainder of para 4 of your letter.
3. We have now received the attached Note from the MFA which states that "passports issued to British Nationals (Overseas) will be accepted without reservation by New Zealand in view of the endorsement they are to contain indicating that the holder has a Hong Kong permanent identity card which states that the holder has the Right of Abode in Hong Kong". This qualification would not cover what paragraph 5 of your letter describes as "this anomalous group" but if the point is indeed of limited practical significance, I assume that you do not wish us to revert to the MFA.
>
4. The MFA Note does not address the possibility of a public expression of support (paragraph 8 of your letter), a point which the High Commissioner touched on when he saw Norrish. But I do not think that the New Zealanders could possibly
CONFIDENTIAL
/object