221019Z
ANNON. HKD COMMENT:
MUD 345/5
D
2 2 SEP 1993
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FM HONG KONG
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INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP BRUSSELS, MADRID, ATHENS, BONN INFO PRIORITY THE HAGUE, LISBON, PARIS, ROME LUXEMBOURG INFO PRIORITY BRUSSELS
Your Telno: Schengen Visa List
We reported to the LegCo Nationality Subcommittee the present position on 14 September. The situation report we presented to the Subcommittee follows by fax. Our report was very well received. Members agreed that we should concentrate our lobbying action on Spain (though some also urged us to pursue the greater aim of obtaining visa-free treatment from France, Germany, Portugal and Denmark as well). In the case of Spain, retaliatory visa restrictions if our lobbying proved unsuccessful was left open. The media coverage dwelt on this possibility.
2. One surprising new angle on the Spanish move was raised by Howard Young (the tourist industry member), who appears to be the best-informed LegCo Member on this subject. He said that he had been told by an unspecified Consul-General that the Spanish decision to impose new visa requirements for BDTCs and BN (o)s was intended as a means of pressure on the UK in the context of Gibraltar.
Comment
3. There is some relief to the community that the Spanish move is not, as was originally feared, part of a Schengen-wide scheme to impose new visa restrictions on Hong Kong. But if the Spanish go ahead with their announcement on 1 October, there would nevertheless be considerable disappointment, and probably growing pressure for some form of retaliation. We will also come under public pressure to show that HMG had left no stone unturned in Lobbying for Hong Kong's interests.
4. Seen from here the Gibraltar theory seems rather far fetched.
PATTEN
YYYY
ADVANCE
33
FRAME POLITICAL UNION PS
PS/N010.
PS/PUS
1
1
1
PS/MR HEATHCOAT-AMORY
MR APPLEYARD
MR CROWE
MR JAY
1
1
1
1
1
MR LEVER
1
ECD (I)//HD
3
ECD (E) //HD
1
CFSP UNIT//HD
1