MANADX
CONFIDENTIAL
VISIT TO HONG KONG BY LORD GLENARTHUR, 16-19 SEPTEMBER
BRIEF NO 11: NATIONALITY AND RELATED ISSUES
Background
BN (0) Passports
in 1986.
1. During the debates in Parliament(last year) on the Hong Kong Nationality Order in Council, Ministers gave an undertaking to pursue vigorously a diplomatic campaign to explain to third countries the new status of British National (Overseas) and the passport that goes with it. This campaign was begun in October 1986 when formal explanatory Notes were sent to all Missions in London. Similar Notes were delivered in capitals at a high level, supplemented by detailed oral explanations of the background and technicalities of the new status. Ad hoc explanations continued thereafter whenever a government had a particular query.
2.
As a follow-up to the initial approaches, in June of this 1987 year a reminder exercise was mounted in capitals in which Posts made a further high level approach, going over some of the more difficult technical points such as returnability to Hong Kong of BN (0) passport holders, as well as emphasising the great political importance we attach to maintaining Hong Kong people's freedom of
We also travel, an element crucial to confidence in Hong Kong. handed over specimen copies of BN (0) passports to help convince governments that there would be nothing unusual about the passport: it was to be a perfectly normal British passport, issued under the authority of the Secretary of State.
3.
a
Both exercises were essentially explanatory, although as confidence building measure for Hong Kong consumption we tried tactfully to elicit public expressions of support from governments for the measures we were taking to enable Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizens to continue to hold a British passport after 1997. These efforts were in the main successful.
CONFIDENTIAL