RESTRICTED
HKA 177/1
117311
MDLIAN 6789
RESTRICTED
FM HONG KONG
TO ROUTINE FCO
TELNO 2455
OF 070855Z OCTOBER 92
INFO ROUTINE PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
TOP COPY Q DIST?
SMUGGLING OF LUXURY VEHICLES.
1. FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR, THE GUANGDONG SECURITY AUTHORITIES RETURNED SIX STOLEN VEHICLES TO HONG KONG AT THE
HUANGJIANG LOK MA CHAU BORDER CROSSING YESTERDAY (6 OCTOBER).
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2. AT THE SAME TIME, THE GUANGDONG AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCED WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT THAT NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVE VEHICLES WOULD BE REGISTERED IN THE PROVINCE AND THAT TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP WOULD NOT/NOT BE ALLOWED FOR THOSE ALREADY REGISTERED.
COMMENT
3. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PRESS THE CHINESE THROUGH VARIOUS CHANNELS TO RETURN MORE STOLEN CARS TO HONG KONG. LAST YEAR 34 STOLEN CARS WERE RETURNED. THIS YEAR ONLY 6 HAVE BEEN RETURNED WHEREAS THE NUMBER OF STOLEN CARS NOT/NOT YET RECOVERED EXCEEDS 1,000.
4. THE IMMEDIATE BAN ON RIGHT-HAND DRIVE VEHICLES IS TO BE WELCOMED, WHICH SHOULD HELP REDUCE CAR LOSSES AND BENEFIT THE INSURANCE TRADE. ITS EFFECTIVENESS WILL, HOWEVER, DEPEND ON ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A STRINGENT REGISTRATION SYSTEM.
PATTEN
YYYY
ΜΑΙΝ
30
HKD
FED
NNNN
DISTRIBUTION
30
LEGAL ADVISERS
NEWS D
1
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