CONFIDENTIAL
Un Exel 7825%
British Embassy
Un
28 Boulevard Royal Luxembourg
Telex 3443 PRODRO TU
Telephone 29864/5/6
DF B le Breton Esq
Nationality and Treaty Department
FCO
London
Ipl
discuss w/ NTD.
UNID 124/14 will dost reply
HKCK 34/ RECEIVED IN REGISTR
eclear
with us.
R
Corry to MVD (paras 2 + 4)
почки Мокаже,
Your reference
Our reference
Date
CHKS
Fordfit reply pl toponas
2J 3
20 November 1986
03 DEC 1986
DESK OʻT10
UISTRY
Sea le Breton
INDEX
PA
Seton Taken
HONG KONG: BRITISH NATIONALS (OVERSEAS): FACILITATING TRAVEL TO THIRD COUNTRIES
1.
As requested in your letter of 23 September I have called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deliver a Note on the above. I also handed over a copy of the Annexe you provided and made the points in your supplementary Speaking Note. The people I was speaking to were more concerned with the technical aspects of the new arrangements than the political overview. We shall use the opportunities that present themselves in the course of normal business to get across the political message but it is clear that goodwill is manifest and would be even more so if some niggling doubts could be put to rest. I believe you are already familiar with these from the discussions which you have held in London but, on the basis of the briefing you provided, I was not able to set their minds entirely at rest.
2. For a start, my intercolutors have still not seen the statement on the 1960 Visa Abolition Agreement which was promised to them by September. When this is forthcoming it could well help allay their concerns which may be summarised as follows:-
what would happen to a BN(O) after 1 July 1997 should he be in Luxembourg and decide to seek political asylum or refugee status? Would he be returnable to UK?
what would happen after 1 July 1997 if the Chinese were to decide arbitrarily that they did not want a given BN(O) back despite a notional right of returnability? (I pointed out the solemn and binding nature of the Chinese commitment on this point but my audience remained sceptical.)
in the event of a BN (0) having to be sent back to Hong Kong at Luxembourg expense would Luxembourg have any financial recourse to the UK?
CONFIDENTIAL
/3. Although